12 REVIEWS OF XMAS: A Double Dose of Lovecraft and Porno Vampires

I'm not sure what's harder to believe: that Christmas is just over a week away or that we've actually stuck with this 12 REVIEWS OF XMAS blog series for five straight days! When the demands of the ER website started to get too much, one of the first contributors I turned to was fellow Horror Dad Doug Waltz. A pal from the Eurotrash Paradise group over at Yahoo (10 years strong this month!), Doug is a zine publisher (Divine Exploitation), blogger, horror host, cook, dad and all-around good guy. I've lost count of how many low- and micro-budget flicks Doug has reviewed for the site... but here's a couple more.

Alternative Cinema has given us the two newest flicks by independent film maker Richard Griffin in one set. Both feature horror and gore with a sprinkling of comedy, but the remain very individual flicks. Let's run 'em down one at a time.

BEYOND THE DUNWICH HORROR
Staying as true as possible to the original HP Lovecreaft story while updating it into the new millennium, Beyond The Dunwich Horror does a great job despite the budgetary restrictions. Not an easy trick. It also revels in the fact that it's a micro-budget exploitation film with all that comes with that particular type of film.

Kenny comes to Dunwich to look for his brother who has been accused of murderous doings and it doesn't take long before the quaint veneer of this New England town is stripped bare and what they find is not something anyone would want.

It's always nice to see Lynn Lowry in a film and this is no exception.

Say what you will about film maker, Richard Griffin, but I think the man delivers.

PRETTY DEAD THINGS
Jennifer Bond is two things; an ex-porn star and a vampire. Turned in 1979, Jennifer is getting nostalgic and wants to go back to where she was turned to find an old flame. Along for the trip are three other vampires that love kicking ass and drinking blood. One of the quartet gets the hots for a pizza delivery boy, but forgets to kill him. Now he's pissed and – with the blessing of the local mayor – out for revenge on these bloodsuckers.

Every frame of the flick oozes the word "sexploitation". Hot bodies, sexy girls, blood dripping everywhere. It also embraces the comedy/horror genre and actually makes it work. With each film director Griffin continues to carve out his own little niche in the world of micro-cinema.

This two-disc set is loaded with plenty of extras like all Alternative Cinema titles. Probably two of the more interesting and innovative horror films I've seen in a very long time. Hell, BEYOND even made me jump a couple of times.

This is a great DVD set.

BEYOND THE DUNWICH HORROR/PRETTY DEAD THINGS is available at Amazon.

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