Cooties (2015) Film Review. Directed by Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion, Distributed by Lionsgate Premier.

I cannot believe living in the UK we got this film before the US release date which is in December.

I had the privilege of watching it last week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

With  the whole story happening through one school day,with it being Clint's unfortunate first day at the school, as he is temping to get money,so he can write his first horror novel . We have the usual not being nice to the new guy,with  the usual stereotypes,the socially awkward teacher, the feminist man hating teacher,who carries a rape alarm with her everywhere, and the closet Gay teacher, and the Jock who is the P.E teacher.

Anyway being a small town,which is famous for its chicken products, a small batch of  chicken nuggets are contaminated somehow, which has an unfortunate effect on prepubescent children, which turns them into adult eating, blood thirsty killers.

That is the film, a comedy film that is very violent and actually has real moments of tension, with the teachers having to decide to hide or to fight,with the latter being the decided option, as the children eat all there parents at pick up time at 3 PM.

I really did enjoy this film, with the ratio of comedy to violence working really well, it has real moments of humour, to some gross scenes also. With an on form Elijah Wood, who actually almost never starred in this, as his production company SpectreVision produced this film, with easily the best, and funniest character going to Rain Wilson, who is not unfamiliar to comedy, as he starred in the U.S. version of The Office.

I can heartedly recommend this film. It is funny, gory, has moments of genuine tension and is a great film to watch. Easily 3/5 stars for me.

     

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'The Last Horror Film' Coming to Blu-ray from Troma Entertainment in December

More TROMATIC Madness Coming in December!

On December 15, 2015, Troma Entertainment will be releasing the David Winters directed, 1982 film "The Last Horror Film" on to Blu-ray.

Joe Spinnell (THE GODFATHER, MANIAC) plays Vinny, a cabbie with Hollywood aspirations. Determined to have Jenna Bates (Bond-girl Caroline Munro) star in his first film, Vinny follows Jenna to the Cannes Film Festival, where her entourage slowly and mysteriously begins to disappear. It's time for this Hollywood scream queen to learn what true fear and paranoia feels like.

Newly restored and featuring the music of Depeche Mode, The Last Horror Film pushes the boundaries of violence, suspense, and eroticism to new extremes. Who else will stand between Vinny and his star?

Special Features:

• The return of one of Troma's most beloved characters, Dolphin-Man
• New intro by Lloyd Kaufman (President of Troma Entertainment and creator of The Toxic Avenger
• Audio commentary
• Highlights from the 2015 Tromadance Film Festival.
• Mr. Robbie (A shortfilm by Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock) starring Joe Spinell)
• A full episode of Troma's latest web-series Kabukiman's Cocktail Corner starring Paul Booth
• Trailer

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Troma Entertainment Acquires 'Honky Holocaust' for a 2016 Release

TROMA ACQUIRES PAUL M MCALARNEY’S HONKY HOLOCAUST AN EXPLOITATION FLICK WITH A MESSAGE!

Finally, Caucasians get a taste of their own segregation. Troma Entertainment has acquired HONKY HOLOCAUST, a film by Paul M. McAlarney. HONKY HOLOCAUST tackles today’s social and racial issues from a totally new perspective. Imagining a world where Charles Manson’s attempts at inciting a race war succeeded and the African-Americans won. The story follows Kendra Manson, descendant of the cult leader, as she and the rest of the cult emerge from their bunker after decades of solitude to find a world where white people are the oppressed race and African-Americans are the oppressors.

This is the first feature film from director Paul M. McAlarney, founder of the production company Ungovernable Films. The company’s name comes from the phrase “the ungovernable force” often used by the British anarcho-punk band Conflict, and that attitude is evident to anyone who watches HONKY HOLOCAUST. The cast & crew are all regulars of McAlarney’s work and they are certain to be staples of underground cinema in the years ahead.

HONKY HOLOCAUST has just recently been nominated for 3 Claw Awards at the Terror Film Festival and is rumored to be featured at a November 12th event at the Sydney Underground Film Festival. Troma couldn’t be happier to be in business with these daring and progressive filmmakers and look forward to releasing HONKY HOLOCAUST in early 2016!

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Shadow World: The Haunting of Mysti Delane - DVD Review - Sector 5 Films

Released by: Sector 5 Films
Release Date: July 14, 2015
Production Year: 2015
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 1:12:59
Audio: English PCM 2.0
Video:  NTSC Anamorphic Widescreen 
Subtitles: None


THE FILM - [ 2 / 5 ]:

A troubled teen possesses a brilliant mind but a sincere disdain for humanity as she proclaims the number one problem on the planet is human overpopulation. With her mother recently deceased under mysterious circumstances, Mysti (Peri Jill Phillips) is estranged from the outside world and delves headlong into the world of the Occult. When her aunt Aurelia (Liz Nolan) decides to visit she is shocked to see that Mysti is brewing Ayahuasca, the Shamanic "vine of souls" and is crossing over into the "other world," a very dangerous endeavor often producing extreme consequences. But Aurelia is too late; Mysti has opened a portal into the Paranormal and unleashed an elemental force that has attached itself to her. Aurelia is no stranger to the Spirit World and they discover their shared heritage when Aurelia invokes an Ancient Witchcraft ritual in an attempt to expel the entity. The extreme demonic force taunts and tortures them both until finally emerging into this reality with its sole purpose being to consume those who brought it forth.

"Shadow World: The Haunting of Mysti Delane" was directed by Daniel Falicki (Aeon: The Last Vampyre on Earth) and stars Peri Jill Phillips and Liz Nolan.

I cannot say that I enjoyed the film. It started off interesting and featured some great cinematography at times. I particularly liked the early scenes of Mysti walking in the snow covered forest. However, the film itself was a bit boring in my opinion. Perhaps the plot was stretched a bit too thin. For the record, what I received to review was a DVD-R, so the quality of the audio and video may be better than what I was able to watch for this review if there was any compression involved in placing the film on a single-layer DVD-R.

 AUDIO - [ 3 / 5 ]:

The DVD features an English PCM 2.0 audio track. I thought the audio on the DVD sounded pretty good. It won't give you a wow factor but it does a good job with what it has to work with. The dialogue was easy to hear and understand and the sound effects sounded fine. The sound level was balanced well throughout as well.

VIDEO - [ 2.5 / 5 ]:

"Shadow World: The Haunting of Mysti Delane" comes to DVD via Sector 5 Films.The film is presented in NTSC anamorphic widescreen. The video quality of this DVD varies. In some scenes the image looks quite good and in others, just passable. It seems that a filter was used to try and give the film an aged, film-like appearance with light scratches appearing on occasion. There are some noticeable issues in the way of digital artifacts. Colors are fairly well represented for the most part and really pop in brighter scenes. The same applies for the amount of detail present in the film. 

SPECIAL FEATURES - [ 0 / 5 ]:

There were no special features included on this DVD.



IN CONCLUSION:

Unfortunately I did not enjoy the film. The DVD-R I received to review had somewhat average audio and video quality. I personally wouldn't recommend this film but thankfully we all have different tastes.


OVERALL: [ 2 / 5 ]

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Hades (2015) - Film Review - FDF Films & Crossbones Independent Films

A woman is trapped in a dream like state which appear to represent various stages of her relationship.

Watching films can sometimes be a dull experience, but occasionally the planets align and you get to view something quite stirring. Austrian director Kevin Kopacka offers a genuine haunting piece of art house film with a kitchen sink of camera tricks, sound design and lighting effects. Following a series of individual arresting sequences actor Anna Heidegger's organic beauty and fine performance really enchants as you journey through her nightmare. It has a universal standing as there's little, if any dialogue, its all about visuals and Kopacka delivers more treats in his experimental short than many features manage to do.

This Berlin made short film (just shy of fifteen minutes) unfolds like a Steven Berkoff play of uneasiness. Broken up by title cards Kopacka injects Giallo's horror and psychological thriller elements into his piece. He also throws in for good measure elements reminiscent of Kubrick's The Shining and a cross section of Lynch's work to name a few, successfully borrowing from the some of the best with lingering long corridors, locked doors, shadowy figures and silhouettes. Shots with glimpses of things that seemingly supernaturally move, notable are the eerie bed clothes. There's also the haunting stillness of faces, sunsets and hazy memories. 

Is it paramount that you analyse writer H.K. DeWitt's take on the five rivers of the realm of Hades and their symbolic meanings? Possibly, but it's not important, as Kopacka's Hades is about how it makes you feel with its unrelenting pressure and a sense of all-pervading paranoia and dread. The short is almost pure cinema and comes highly recommended. 

Rating: 4 / 5

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Jane Levy & Justin Chatwin Are Star-Crossed Lovers Surrounded by Mutants In Sci-Fi Musical 'Bang Bang Baby'

Jane Levy & Justin Chatwin Are Star-Crossed Lovers 

Surrounded by Mutants In Sci-Fi Musical Bang Bang Baby 

Available Nationwide on Cable & Internet VOD November 10

Los Angeles, CA - Random Media is excited to announce Bang Bang Baby has made its long-awaited domestic release on cable and Internet VOD November 10th. Since the world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, the film has been hailed by critics and audience alike for as a genre bending twist of "American Idol" and the classic horror film The Crazies. Director Jeffrey St. Jules won Best Canadian First Feature Film Award at TIFF, followed by the Claude Jutra Award at the Canadian Screen Awards. The CSA honored Justin Chatwin with a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Bang Bang Baby stars Jane Levy ("Suburgatory", Monster Trucks, Evil Dead) in a starmaking turn as Stepphy, a small town girl who's caught between her big dreams of stardom and her controlling father, played by Peter Stormare ("Fargo", 22 Jump Street). Justin Chatwin ("Shameless", War of the Worlds, "Orphan Black") plays rock star Bobby Shore who holds the key to making all of Stepphy's dreams come true, and David Reale ("Suits", One Week) plays creepy chemical factory manager Fabian. Maren Olson of Traction Media negotiated the deal.

Bang Bang Baby is now available across the United States 

on all major VOD platforms including:

iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, InDemand, Comcast, 

Direct TV, Dish & more

The feature-length debut of director Jeffrey St. Jules, Bang Bang Baby is an otherworldly sci-fi musical about Stepphy, who lives in a sleepy 1960's town with her alcoholic father. Stepphy dreams of escaping to a better life on the stage and screen, and when rock star Bobby Shore's car breaks down in Lonely Arms, it seems her dream might be coming true. But when Stepphy hears that the local chemical factory is leaking dangerous purple fumes that can cause spontaneous human mutations, she becomes obsessed with hiding these dark secrets from Bobby. The ugly reality of Stepphy's world increasingly encroaches on her fantasy of running away and becoming a star with Bobby - leading to an unavoidable clash.

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Arrow Video US - Updated News on Extras for 'Wake Up And Kill' & 'What Have You Done to Solange?' Blu-rays

New from Arrow Video US

Wake Up And Kill (2-Disc Special Edition) (November 24) and 

What Have You Done To Solange?(December 15) 

via MVD Entertainment Group

MVD Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the US with two new titles...

Wake Up And Kill (2-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray + DVD] coming November 24

During the 1960s Luciano Lutring committed more than one hundred armed robberies in Italy and on the French Riviera. To the media he was the 'machine gun soloist', a name he'd earned as he kept his weapon in a violin case. To the public he was a romantic figure, one who only targeted the wealthy, stealing more than 35 billion lire during his criminal career.

Wake Up and Kill was the logical extension of such fame. It became the first feature to commit Lutring's story to celluloid, shooting having begun mere months after his eventual arrest. Capitalizing on the breakthrough success of his performance in French television's The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Robert Hoffmann is perfect as Lutring, bringing just the right amount of charisma and youthful exuberance to his first major big screen role.

Directed by Carlo Lizzani (Requiescant), scored by Ennio Morricone, penned by the future screenwriter of Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, and featuring that film's star, Gian Maria Volonté, in a key supporting role, Wake Up and Kill's true-crime thrills serve as an enthralling dry run for the poliziotteschi movies that would follow a few years later.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

• Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD presentations of two versions of the film: the original full-length Italian release, and the shortened English-language cut
• Italian and English soundtracks in uncompressed PCM mono sound on the respective versions of the film
• Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian version
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English cut
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Reinhard Kleist
• Illustrated collector's booklet containing new writing on the film by Robert Curti, author of Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980

Format: BLU-RAY + DVD
Street Date: 11/24/15
Label: Arrow Video
Genre: Cult
Run Time: 124 mins
Number of Discs: 2
Audio: STEREO
Year of Production: 1966
Director: Carlo Lizzani
Actors: Robert Hoffman, Lisa Gastoni, Gian Maria Volonté
Territory: US
Language: English/Italian


 

What Have You Done To Solange? [BLU-RAY + DVD] coming December 15
From director Massimo Dallamano, cinematographer on both A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, comes giallo classic What Have You Done to Solange?, the debut feature of actress Camille Keaton (I Spit on Your Grave). A sexually sadistic killer is preying on the girls of St. Mary's school. Student Elizabeth witnessed one of the murders, but her hazy recollections of a knife-wielding figure in black do nothing to further the police's investigations. Why is the killer choosing these young women? And what does it have to do with a girl named Solange? Also starring Cristina Galbo (Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue) and Fabio Testi (I Spit On Your Grave), What Have You Done with Solange? features all the hallmarks of classic gialli - the amateur detective, the black-gloved killer - as well as a lush score from Ennio Morricone.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

• Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
• Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio
• Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
• Brand new audio commentary with critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman
• What Have You Done to Decency? A conversation with Karin Baal - the actress shares her thoughts on Dallamano's classic giallo in this brand new interview 
• First Action Hero - a newly-edited 2006 interview with actor and former stuntman Fabio Testi, including a look at his role in Solange 
• Old-School Producer - a newly-edited 2006 interview with producer Fulvio Lucisano
• Innocence Lost: Solange and the "Schoolgirls in Peril" Trilogy - a brand new visual essay by Michael Mackenzie, exploring the themes of Solange and its two semi-sequels 
• Original theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Malleus 
• Collector's booklet featuring a new article on the giallo scores of Ennio Morricone by Howard Hughes, alongside a Camille Keaton career retrospective from Art Ettinger, comprising interview excerpts with the Solange actress, all illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Format: BLU-RAY + DVD
Street Date: 12/15/15
Label: Arrow Video
Genre: Horror
Run Time: 107 mins
Number of Discs: 2
Audio: DTS-HD MA MONO 1.0
Year of Production: 1975
Director: Massimo Dallamano
Actors: Fabio Testi, Cristina Galbó, Camille Keaton
Territory: US
Language: English/Italian

 

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Backwater - Film Review - Osiris Entertainment

Backwater arrives on DVD and Digital this November from Osiris Entertainment.

Director: Christopher Schrack

Cast: Thomas Daniel, Andrew Roth, Justin Tully, Liana Werner-Gray.

A couple goes camping in the middle of nowhere. Things go wrong, people try and kill them. This is far from an original story, and has been the base plot to a wide variety of films, both horror and non-horror. Although from the outset Backwater is exactly the same, it transforms itself into something completely different and much more original as the film progresses.

Backwater starts with young and beautiful couple Cass and Mark who are on a secluded getaway in the American countryside. Whilst they enjoy the solitude their peace is broken by a distant scream. As they go and investigate they encounter two strangers in the same woods as them. Whilst they initially seem to be harmless, things soon go awry and although this may still sound like a typical plot, things take a turn for the unexpected and the film moves up a gear.

The first act is slow, and although it is there to build a relationship and a bond with the two leads it doesn’t offer much in terms of character development other than provide a glimpse into their seemingly happy relationship. The actors themselves give fairly solid performances, though it is difficult to believe the relationship at points.

As the film slides into the second third and we are introduced to two new and mysterious characters the pace begins to quicken and the film hits its stride. We begin to see much more character depth and a plot that is much more developed than we initially give it credit for. There are aspects of muddle within the plot, and towards the end it does lose its way slightly, however the fact Schrack even attempts to develop the narrative to the extent he does given the independent nature of the production is credit worthy.

Whilst it may be said that the film utilises too many different aspects it does make a welcome change from the usual Eden Lake style indie backwoods slasher horrors that have become so popular since Deliverance. It is refreshing to see a director and writer develop the plot beyond ‘couple get split up out in the woods and are surrounded by maniacs’ as has been done to death by the Wrong Turn ilk. Despite Backwater veering slightly of course at points it remains an intriguing foray into the sub-genre.

Backwater has a definite indie feel to it, and there is the atmosphere of found footage/handheld camera stylings which add an almost Blair Witchesque feel to the film. The environment is used well to add to the tension and the stripped back nature of the production. The practical effects provide a satisfying level of gore that ensure the film sticks to its slasher motif without slipping too far into the realms of psychological thriller. When you consider the films meagre $40,000 budget what it achieves visually is impressive, if not completely encompassing.

Backwater may present as an all too typical backwoods slasher however some perseverance will reward viewers with something much more thought out. Although the film has its downsides and occasionally feels like it loses its way, this can be mostly forgiven when you consider the indie production and the limitations that can bring with it. Backwater may not be ground breaking, but it is an interesting indie horror in its own right, and deserving of some of your time.

Rating: 3/5

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