The Wizard of Gore (1970) directed by HG Lewis

“Are you certain you know what reality is?”

Next up in my 60-For-60 Horror Watchathon is this surreal, bonkers gorefest from the one and only Godfather of Gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, Lewis—who became a millionaire thanks to his expertise in direct mail advertising—started out making nudie flicks in the 1950s. When the bottom fell out of that market (no pun intended), he turned his attention to films the big budget studios couldn’t or wouldn’t make. His 1963 low-budget shocker BLOOD FEAST pushed the genre into gross-out territory and created the modern gorefest.

THE WIZARD OF GORE focuses on Montag the Magnificent (Ray Sager), a top hat-clad magician who looks to be just another two-bit hack. After shouting at the audience about dreams vs. reality and mankind’s bloodthirst for spectacle, Montag welcomes a volunteer from the audience for the ol’ “saw a woman in half” bit. But this is no hacksaw and fake limbs trickery. Montag fires up an electric chainsaw and paints the screen red with buckets of blood and half the meat section at the local Kroger’s.

But what’s this? Despite all evidence to the contrary, the victim appears fine and heads off to a local restaurant after the show. Where she promptly bleeds out all over the floor, much to the dismay of her fellow diners.

Fascinated by Montag’s “act”, daytime talk show host Sherry (Judy Cler) arranges for tickets for his next show, despite her sportswriter boyfriend’s protests. Not content to repeat the same gag, Montag proceeds to pound a metal spike into another audience member’s skull. And, like the first victim, she walks away unscathed, only to die later from her wounds.

Is there a psycho on the loose who gets turned on by Montag’s stunts? Or is Montag himself killing his victims to satisfy some sick and twisted desire?

While you ponder those questions, Lewis piles on the gore with punch press pulverizing, forced sword swallowing, eyeball violence, teeth knocked out, and more—all while the audience sits there dumbfounded, mesmerized by Montag’s antics.

Is it all in their minds? Is it all in Montag’s mind? Or are we just dreaming, and not really watching a movie at all?

THE WIZARD OF GORE is one of those films you’re either going to love or hate. Sager (who went on to have a successful career as a producer) gives a, um, unique performance, shouting most of his lines in a ham-fisted fashion that makes more sense when you discover he was a crew member who stepped in after the original “star” walked off the set.

Admittedly, Lewis and screenwriter Allen Kahn aren’t really interested in tying the film up in a nice, tight bow. Characters wonder out loud about all the same questions the viewer has, and, as Lewis says in the intro to the flick, THE WIZARD OF GORE defies definition.

THE WIZARD OF GORE remains a completely over-the-top head-scratcher that’s more fun than BLOOD FEAST but not as good a movie as Lewis’s 2000 MANIACS (1964). In 2007, the film was remade with Crispin Glover as Montag. I’ve never watched it, but now that I know it features Jeffrey Combs and Brad Dourif, I may have to. – Dan Taylor

Bloody Moon (1981) starring Olivia Pascal, Alexander Waechter, and Jess Franco

Opening five years before the film’s main events, BLOODY MOON finds poor, disfigured Miguel (Alexander Waechter) stalking the babes at his aunt’s International Youth Club School of Languages. (Just think of it as the camp from FRIDAY THE 13TH or any other slasher setting filled with nubile teens running off to have sex in the woods.) Rejected by his sister Manuela (Nadja Gerganoff) with whom he has had an incestual relationship of some degree, Miguel steals a Mickey Mouse mask, fools some poor, dumb language student and brutally stabs her to death with a pair of scissors after she unmasks him in her boudoir.

Five years later Doctor Franco releases Miguel into Manuela’s care and they head directly back to the language school campus, despite the good doctor’s warning that he should avoid tension and any mention of the horrible events of “that night”. Savvy viewers who have seen, um, more than two slashers will be keenly aware that despite all suggestions to the contrary Miguel is, as they say a red herring.

The all-girl language school setting provides Franco and awesomely named scribe Rayo Casablanca with plenty of victims, not to mention countless opportunities for dressing, undressing, topless sunbathing and all manner of running about in hideous 80s fashions. Filled with catty, slutty, trim, big-breasted students, the language school also feature a staff that includes Christoph Moosbrugger as Alvarro, the school’s randy language instructor and Peter Exacoustos as randy handyman/gardener Antonio.

When Angela (Olivia Pascal) shows up a week into the school’s class schedule (despite the fact she was inexplicably on the same train as Miguel and Manuela), she learns than her bungalow was the site of the brutal murder shown in the flick’s HALLOWEEN-inspired opening. It’s not long before a black-gloved killer is stalking Angela, killing people in her room and then spiriting their bodies away in an attempt to make her look like a nut.

The script makes almost no attempt to disguise the mystery and even the laziest viewer will figure it out without much effort. I’m not sure if it’s due to the inept screenplay or Franco’s “who cares” attitude when it comes to logic (probably both), but BLOODY MOON is packed with so many nonsensical asides and dubious plot threads that it’s simply best to forget about the flick’s “mystery” elements and concentrate instead on what makes it such trashy fun – relentless nudity and several bloody set pieces, including an impressive stone mill power saw sequence that was finally shown complete when Severin put out the disc I screened.

While not on par with the insane brilliance of something like PIECES, I must give Franco credit. BLOODY MOON gives the dopiest of 80s slasher flicks a run for its money, thanks to its fast pace (the flick is barely 85 minutes long), topless babes, ridiculous dialogue, and enough gory mayhem to make up for the gaping holes in logic.

If 80s trash cinema and/or old school slasher flicks are what you desire, BLOODY MOON delivers more treats than tricks. – Dan Taylor

BATH SALT ZOMBIES (2012) Directed by Dustin Wayde Mills

I miss the days of topical exploitation and horror cinema, when filmmakers would rip their storylines right from the headlines to offer up slightly (or more than slightly) fictionalized tales of the day’s news events. Whether they were showing us the horrors of marijuana (REEFER MADNESS), teen pregnancy (TEENAGE MOTHER), cults (GUAYAN: CULT OF THE DAMNED) or savage dictators (THE RISE AND FALL OF IDI AMIN), trash filmmakers could often be counted upon to scare up some sort of cinematic boogieman that would make our own lives seem safe and tame by comparison.

Then again, after watching BATH SALT ZOMBIES maybe it’s just a whole hell of a lot easier to rip-off the SAW and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY flicks.

Inspired by a wave of “bath salt”-related violent crimes and cannibalistic behavior, BATH SALT ZOMBIES feels like it wants to be this generation’s answer to the aforementioned REEFER MADNESS. It even starts with a faux bath salts health class propaganda video, though I don’t recall any of the 16mm flicks I saw in high school being peppered with profanity, face-eating and an appearance by Satan himself.

Once that’s out of the way (and it’s not half as funny as you’d hope a profane parody complete with Satanic cameo would be) the plot jumps to present day NYC where it appears that about twenty people live. Ritchie (Brandon Salkil) and his bitchy, busty girlfriend Angel (Erin Ryan) are strung-out junkies in search of their next high until Ritchie scores some new smokeable bath salts from Bubbles (Ethan Holey), a biz-savvy dealer willing to give away that first pack for free.

Little does Ritchie know that he’ll not only be instantly hooked on the junk, but the military-grade designer drug will also turn him into a twitchy, super-strong monster with a proclivity for killing gals with big, natural boobs.

From there BSZ ping-pongs from Ritchie and his killing sprees to the DEA agent on his tail, to Bubbles and drug designer Sal (affably played by director Dustin Wayde Mills) complete with headache-inducing shaky-cam, comically grotesque makeup that gets more outrageous as the flick progresses and a couple flashes of not-quite-brilliance that made me wonder what could have been.

Made for less than a day’s catering on TWILIGHT, the micro-budget strains the production at the seams, highlighting both its pluses (a couple good performances, some inspired stylized mayhem) and minuses (a handful of bad performances, video-gamey CGI, flat script). Salkil makes a fine, twitchy junkie-monster and seems to be having a good time, especially during two over-the-top slaughter rampages that highlight the flick. Unfortunately, much of the flick’s 70-minute running time is monopolized by Josh Eal’s shouting DEA agent, who lays waste to drug cookers and doughnuts with equal aplomb.

With its mix of punk rock music (and filmmaking), face-ripping gore, “real” actors, junkie atmosphere and zero budget, BATH SALT ZOMBIES comes off like some bastard lovechild of the Cinema of Transgression and HG Lewis. Luckily, I enjoyed BATH SALT ZOMBIES just enough to give Mills' SKINLESS (2013) a whirl and was amply rewarded for my optimism. – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor/publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and The Hungover Gourmet. This review originally appeared in ER #52, available from Amazon and direct from the publisher.

BATH SALT ZOMBIES is available from Amazon.

31 DAYS OF FRIGHT: Necronos – Tower of Doom (2010)

"Throw a mortal into the zombie vaults."

Those Germans know a thing or two about beer and over-the-top gore flicks, so it was with great anticipation that I matched up a Schneider Weisse Aventinus Wheat Dopplebock Ale with NECRONOS: TOWER OF DOOM (2010). And while one is rich and bold and filled with ripe fruit flavors the other is, well, an insane two-hour gorefest.

Opening centuries ago, NECRONOS tells the story – if I understood the borderline incoherent, occasionally Germanic title cards correctly – of a wizard who makes a fatal pact with The Devil. After he has been captured, tortured, killed, chopped up AND burned, the wizard toils in Hell until he rises to the rank of head demon.

Sent back to Earth by Satan – whom he communicates with in a tour de force of forced perspective – the wizard aka Necronos is charged with the task of plunging the world of humans into darkness via a berserker but he'll need to send his monstrous assistant Goran (Timo Fuchs) around to collect a pretty complex list of ingredients in order to carry out the recipe. To be quite frank, I'm not sure Goran is up to the task.

What follows is one of the grimiest gore flicks you'll ever witness as Goran makes his way through fishermen, trysting campers, metalhead snuff film auteurs and "the chosen one" in an attempt to get Necronos the ingredients he needs.

Thomas Sender – who also worked as the set decorator for the flick – cuts an impressive figure as the titular demon wizard. For my money there are few things more terrifying than some hooded dude in black face and black teeth barking German. He could be reciting the words to the 'Sofia The First' theme and it'd still make my skin crawl.

There's not much story but Rohnstock and his Infernal Films comrades pack every second of NECRONOS' 127-minute running time (!) with enough decapitations, bone gnawing, naked nubiles, mouth hammering and fountains of blood, gore and nastiness that - like the accompanying beer – you won't want it to end.

I'm not sure NECRONOS: TOWER OF DOOM is for everybody. Clearly, if you're looking for story to go with your horror imagery, you may want to take your entertainment dollars elsewhere. But if you dig the rocking, shocking wave of Teutonic Terrors a la Andreas Schnaas and Timo Rose (both of whom appear in NECRONOS) you won't regret checking into this particular tower. – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor and publisher of Exploitation Retrospect. You can read hundreds of reviews like this one at our website and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates and exclusive content.

NECRONOS: TOWER OF DOOM is available from Amazon.

LUCIO FULCI: An Appreciation of the Italian Grandfather of Gore

Lucio Fulci would have turned 87 today. And while most gorehounds discovered his work thanks to his Golden Age of Gore that features such classics as ZOMBIE, THE GATES OF HELL and THE BEYOND, his lengthy career in Italian cinema stretches far beyond the genre in which he's frequently pigeonholed. A slightly different version of this appreciation of Fulci appeared in issue #24 of the late, lamented music/wrestling/smut/movie mag Carbon 14. 

Is it sad that I attach more sentiment to my memories of Lucio Fulci – The Italian Grandfather of Gore – than I do to my own ancestors? I suppose it isn't surprising when you consider their respective roles in my upbringing. All my grandparents were dead by the time I was a teenager, right around the time Grampy Lucio took my hand and guided me through his world of grindhouse cinema.

At the drive-in we sat in our lawn chairs, sipped cheap beer and watched GATES OF HELL (aka CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) as John Morghen got a drill through the head for being creepy, slow-witted and trusting. We cut classes at Drexel to venture to the Budco Midtown for something called SEVEN DOORS OF DEATH (aka THE BEYOND) which featured sinister spiders, nasty zombies, and another of Lucio's trademark head-scratcher endings. Good times, good times. And I haven't even mentioned the hours spent watching – and re-watching – flicks like ZOMBIE, HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, MANHATTAN BABY and NEW YORK RIPPER.

But recently, something interesting has happened – I've discovered another side of Grampy Lucio. It's like flipping through your grandparents' photo album and realizing that the loose-looking flapper or the Zoot-suited hoodlum is actually the kindly old soul who bakes pies for holiday dinners or took you to the fishing hole for a lesson in baiting a hook.

Despite a filmography that's top-heavy with juicy, paint-the-screen-red titles like those mentioned above, Fulci was quite the cinematic chameleon. After toiling as a screenwriter and assistant director on a number of Italian comedies, he began his directorial career with THE THIEVES (1959) a flop that drove him into a succession of musical comedies, a genre that had become a worldwide sensation thanks to Elvis, Frankie and Annette. The influence of the early days of the James Bond series can even be seen in the mid-Sixties spy flick 002 OPERATION MOON, which can be found under numerous alternate titles like MOST SECRET AGENTS, OH! THOSE MOST SECRET AGENTS and WORST SECRET AGENTS.

Sergio Leone's landmark Spaghetti Western A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964) may have been responsible for MASSCARE TIME (1966) a Franco Nero vehicle that represented Fulci's first foray into that genre.

As the swinging sixties came to a close, the director tackled one of his most complex and intricate tales, a thriller called ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER (1969, aka PERVERSION STORY). Having been raised on a steady diet of Alfred Hitchcock and Brian DePalma, it became apparent – after a ferociously upbeat jazz-scored credit sequence – that this would be a sinister tale of murder and misplaced accusations. It's got it all – the sick wife, the creepy sister-in-law, the two medications that if switched could prove fatal, the glory-hog doctor/anti-hero, and so on.

Once our victim checks out and signs start pointing to the handsome doc, Fulci kicks it into "innocent man wrongly accused" overdrive and we're left to ponder a number of questions as the story unfolds. Who's the hot blonde doppelganger doing the striptease on the motorcycle? Why is that guy shadowing our hero? Am I gonna get some Euro-lesbian action or WHAT?!

ONE ON TOP is actually one of those rare instance where I wish the flick was longer. Things are going along nicely with Fulci delivering an involving thriller despite some wooden acting and convoluted scenes. And then BLAM! It's like there's 45 minutes missing! Suddenly, our good doctor is on death row, it's getting near gas chamber time, the culprits appear to have gotten away with murder and then twists are layered on top of surprises... all delivered by a newsman talking into a microphone! It's like a comedy sketch where they've run out of money and just tell you what happens rather than show it.

Fulci's 1970s output jumped all over the cinematic map, ping-ponging between thrillers (LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN) and Dario Argento-influenced giallos (DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING and the haunting THE PSYCHIC) to westerns (FOUR GUNMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE) and horror comedies in the wake of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (DRACULA IN THE PROVINCES).

The success of 1979's ZOMBIE – which established Fulci as the premier Italian gore film director – was due in large part to the success of George Romero's landmark DAWN OF THE DEAD (1977). Produced in association with the legendary Argento, Romero's flick ignited Italy's Spaghetti Splatter industry and ushered in the grisly gorefests that would keep grindhouse fans and drive-in patrons glued to their seats for years to come.

But that didn't stop Fulci from detouring into strange and unexpected territory. 1980's CONTRABAND pulls back on the gore reins while setting up a tale of naïve smugglers who resist influences to get them involved in the drug trade. Fabio Testi stars as Luka, a family man/smuggler who enjoys a good life while throwing cops off his trail with exploding boats loaded with rubber dummies.

When a shadowy underworld figure known as The Margliese starts applying pressure to the heads of the crime families, Fulci shines and the flick perks up. There's an uncomfortable sequence where a chick gets her head set on fire for trying to pass bad drugs and when the villains kidnap Luka's wife the body count rises, double crosses ensue, surprise revelations are, um, revealed and the master paints the screen red in the gory shootout finale. Occasionally confusing but frequently entertaining, CONTRABAND is an unexpected crime-thriller with enough action and sadistic gore to keep viewers interested.

The period after CONTRABAND represents Fulci's landmark era of horror cinema. CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980) would be a "greatest hits" reel for most directors of the time and 1981's THE BEYOND is one of the most haunting (and gory) masterpieces of horror cinema. While HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (1981) is no match for the genius of THE BEYOND, it's still an effective and creepy take on haunted houses – with a zombie thrown in for old times sake. MANHATTAN BABY and NEW YORK RIPPER (both 1982) veered into the then-popular slasher genre but received limited distribution and lukewarm receptions at the time.

Between 1983 and 1984, Fulci helmed two more out-of-left-field projects: the futuristic actioner THE NEW GLADIATORS and the sword-and-sci-fi "epic" CONQUEST. Though they would represent his last efforts outside the horror genre, both flicks are intriguing and entertaining in their own way.

Pre-dating Governor Schwarzenegger's THE RUNNING MAN by several years, THE NEW GLADIATORS mines the fertile post-apocalypse genre for a tale that mixes equal parts social commentary and barbaric sports flicks like DEATHRACE 2000 and ROLLERBALL. Due to slipping television ratings, the World Broadcasting System has resurrected the idea of gladiators for 'The Battle of the Damned'. In a nutshell, a dozen convicted killers battle it out with the survivor receiving their freedom.

To goose the ratings, Cortez (the guy running the whole shebang) decides that he needs a people's champion. So, they hire Drake (played by Jared Martin, later seen on the syndicated 'War of the Worlds' )... a pasty-faced, sunken-chest ween we're supposed to believe is the world's greatest 'Death Bike' champ. He's in prison for the murder of the guys that offed his young bride. Along for the ride is Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, who (I hope) amassed a small fortune acting in these things.

As expected, 'The Battle of The Damned' is the flick's price-of-admission highlight – competitors get gouged, set on fire, decapitated (in loving Fulci slow-mo) and generally abused. Like THE RUNNING MAN, THE NEW GLADIATORS features a mission to knock out a satellite, a maniacal man in charge, framed competitors, a "people's champion" and more.

While NEW GLADIATORS lets Fulci deliver social commentary with the bloodletting, CONQUEST is nothing but a good-time genre-splicing mish-mash that will either entertain or enrage you. Grafting snippets of the sword-and-sandal genre (think CONAN) with a certain well-known space opera, CONQUEST has it all. If by "all" you mean: a bevy of chimp/wolf creatures that are like the third cousin of Chewbacca, twice removed; female actresses that are either topless, covered in blood, drawn and quartered, or all of the above; cascades of blood; a couple decapitations; and, who can forget the "arrows" that appear to have been created by scratching the negative with a paper clip!

Fulci would direct a baker's dozen of theatrical and TV flicks – give or take – after these final non-horror outings, though none met with the acclaim of THE BEYOND and ZOMBIE. In March of 1996, just weeks before beginning pre-production on THE WAX MASK (eventually helmed by effects guru Sergio Stivaletti), Fulci died as a result of a diabetic attack.

While the very mention of his name conjures up images of flesh-eating zombies, sharp implements to the head and visions of the afterlife, don't let Lucio Fulci's rep as the Grandfather of Italian Gore fool you. Check out the surprising and unique cinematic detours that dot his impressive filmography.

CALL GIRL OF CTHULU (2014)

Baltimore filmmaker Chris LaMartina's old school horror comedy CALL GIRL OF CTHULU gets both the "horror" and the "comedy" spot on in this gory riot inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft.

A virginal artist falls for an escort, unaware that her butt cheek birthmark is her ticket to being the bride of Cthulu. Chock full of gore, grue, boobs, blood and laughs, CALL GIRL harkens back to the days of plucking a classic like BRAIN DAMAGE, THE CONVENT, FRANKENHOOKER or one of the BASKET CASE flicks off the video store shelves.

Coming to video (hopefully later this year according to the filmmakers) but try and see it on the big screen with a raucous, trash-loving crowd. Look for a full review in Exploitation Retrospect #52.

January 2014 Watchlist

Nothing like getting the cinematic year off to a good start. Watched 16 flicks during the month including two rewatches (BATMAN BEGINS and KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM OF THE PARK) and not one flick that made me question my sanity as a movie lover.

There were more than a few pleasant surprises including the low-budget customed caper ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE, Arnold's comeback vehicle THE LAST STAND and AFTERSHOCK (with Eli Roth as an American tourist in Chile who must survive the aftermath of an earthquake... and worse) plus a couple flicks that totally lived up to their reps (Duke Mitchell's jaw-dropping MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE, the Linda Blair revenge-a-thon SAVAGE STREETS and REWIND THIS!, the first of several VHS-related documentaries I hope to catch this year).

The most pleasant surprise of all may have been 2013's HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS, which I had dismissed as an uninspired VAN HELSING rip-off, if such a thing is even possible. Turns out it was actually gory fun as the titular characters and their monster-fighting pals stomped heads and, well, hunted witches with glee.

Here's the running list for January... and the new year so far...

1. DESPICABLE ME 2 (2013)
2. MASSACE MAFIA STYLE (1974)
3. SAVING MR BANKS (2013)
4. ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE (2011)
5. RUSH (2013)
6. THE LAST STAND (2013)
7. AFTERSHOCK (2012)
8. HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS (2013)
9. BULLET TO THE HEAD (2013)
10. SAVAGE STREETS (1984)
11. BATMAN BEGINS (2008)
12. THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX (2013)
13. ARCTIC BLAST (2010)
14. KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM OF THE PARK (1978)
15. REWIND THIS! (2013)
16. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (2013)

"Every Town Has Its Legends..."

"Every town has its legends... Bigfoot, Chupacabra, Loch Ness Monster. We have a Snow Shark."

When I was an adolescent my brother and his buddy took me to a dollar theater for a screening of JAWS (they simply wanted to see my reaction to the head popping out of the boat hull) and since that day I've been a sucker for "nature run amok" cinema. Doesn't matter if it's land or sea, real or cryptozoological, I am all in when man's hubris, ecological tampering or misplaced curiosity comes back to bite us in the ass.

Thanks to the unquenchable thirst of outlets like SyFy Channel, Redbox, Netflix and Amazon, "when nature attacks" cinema is back with a vengeance.  Whether it's a deep psychological exploration of an urban legend (2011's THE BARRENS in which Canada poorly apes the Garden State), a boobified remake of a trash classic (I'm looking at you PIRANHA 3D franchise), or a high-concept "you had me at the title" schlockfest like last summer's SHARKNADO (starring Ian Ziering and Tara Reid!), nothing catches my eye quite like a cover that suggests I'll be watching some washed-up 80s pop star get eaten by a creature with the body of a crab and the head of a social worker.

Sam Qualiana's SNOW SHARK – in which an earthquake unleashes the long dormant titular creature from its icy tomb – barely attempts to disguise its ultra-high-concept ("JAWS In The Snow"). After a trio of university researchers disappear in 1999 – presumably eaten by the computer-generated-looking monster – we fast forward to the present day when another snow shark has reared its ugly head. After the monster makes a late-night snack of the local sheriff's son, things get personal and it's up to the cops, a trio of experts, and a cadre of armed hicks led by Mike (writer / director / director of photography / star) Qualiana to destroy the creature.

I have to give SNOW SHARK points for playing the ridiculous material totally straight. While the sight of the creature's dorsal fin cutting through the snow is occasionally guffaw-inducing, the flick never succumbs to the desire to wallow in parody (like the wretched, almost-unwatchable GUMS starring Brother Theodore) and never had me scrambling for the remote. And though he looks like he's late for his gig as a Teddy Roosevelt impersonator, C.J. Qualiana (the director's father) lends the proceedings a certain somber tone and gravitas as the widowed sheriff who has just lost his ne'er do well son to the creature.

Like MACHETE, MACHETE KILLS, THANKSKILLING 3 and other faux grindhouse concepts, SNOW SHARK is probably an idea that plays better as a two-minute trailer or short than a fleshed-out feature. There's perhaps a couple lead characters too many and despite its 79-minute running time I found my interest starting to wander during multiple viewings. But, like a cheap fast food meal grabbed during a long road trip, SNOW SHARK knows what it is and never raises your expectations too high, and there's something to be said for that.

The 27-year-old Qualiana -– who won the Filmmaker to Watch Award at the 2010 Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival – is currently back in the writer/director/actor chair for the upcoming found footage monster flick THE LEGEND OF SIX FINGERS. Based on what he accomplished with SNOW SHARK I'll certainly give it a look.

SNOW SHARK is available from Amazon.

I Survived the 7th Annual Exhumed Films Horrorthon!

Just woke up after sleeping for 12 hours to recharge my batteries. Got up at 6 AM Saturday to head to Philly for the 7th Exhumed Horrorothon. Doing a blow-by-blow writeup for Weng's Chop #5 but the flicks screened (all prints mind you) included:

• DEMON KNIGHT
• MONKEY SHINES
• REVENGE OF THE LIVING ZOMBIES (aka Bill Hinzman's FLESH EATER)
• MANSION OF THE DOOMED
• INFERNO
• WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE
• TINTORERA
• the original HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW
• NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR
• THE PARASITE MURDERS (aka THEY CAME FROM WITHIN)
• GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD
• TOXIC ZOMBIES
• DARKMAN
• DEMONS 2

Thought this was a really consistent, solid lineup without any of the staggering lows of previous years (SON OF BLOB and DRACULA VS FRANKENSTEIN I'm looking at you) though without any super high points (I definitely loved seeing FLESH EATER, NIGHT TRAIN, TINTORERA, WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE and DEMONS 2 on the big screen).

Have to adjust my blood-to-caffeine levels and get back to work... look for more 31 DAYS later as we head towards the Halloween finish line!

31 DAYS OF FRIGHT: Retro Shock-O-Rama Al Adamson Double Feature

Happy Monday folks and welcome to the latest installment of 31 DAYS OF FRIGHT! It's finally starting to look like fall around here with my gutters filling with leaves, cooler temps forecast for the upcoming weekend and my beloved Philadelphia Flyers getting off to their traditionally slow start (0-3 in their first three games with 1 even strength goal). Personally, I'm still shagged out from a weekend of barbecue, Goblin, Secret Chiefs 3 and Chowderfest so I've turned over the reins this morning to Divine Exploitation's Doug Waltz and his look at a Shock-O-Rama double bill from the one and only Al Adamson. Take it away Doug...

Shock-O-Rama serves up a double bill from one of the great directors of low-budget pictures of days gone by. I'm talking about Al Adamson and his 1978 shocker NURSE SHERRI – included in this set – is one of the staples of low-budget horror.

But first we get a rarity of Al's. FIVE BLOODY GRAVES is more the kind of picture that Al liked to make. A western. And since it's from Al Adamson we don't find it strange that the film is narrated by Death himself.

Basically we get a renegade tribe of bloodthirsty Indians on the war path when along comes our hero, Ben Thompson, who has a grudge to settle with Satago, the head of the evil Indians. Seems that Satago murdered Ben's wife on their wedding day and now he seeks vengeance.

A pretty basic western that, while not anything extraordinary, works well within the confines of the genre. You could see the loving detail Al gave to the flick and that he was probably pretty happy making something that wasn't a cheesy horror flick.

And speaking of cheesy horror flicks, that makes for a perfect lead in for the second feature, NURSE SHERRI, or THE POSSESSION OF NURSE SHERRI, if you prefer.

In this one we get a necromancer who is attempting to bring the dead back to life. It starts to work, but then he has a heart attack. His spirit possesses the titular character and sends her on a bloody rampage throughout the hospital and surrounding area to destroy all those who contributed to his death.

This is a classic of the seventies, a true staple of the drive-in circuit in its time. The lead, Jill Jacobson is gorgeous and all the nurses in the picture fill out their uniforms quite nicely.

The DVD package that Shock-O-Rama has put together for these two flicks is nothing short of spectacular. On the first disc we get the two features with the theatrical version of NURSE SHERRI. In addition we get commentary from Sam Sherman and these are nothing less than required listening. Sam remembers more about the film business than anyone out there. It's like getting a film history course with your exploitation flicks.

The second disc gives us the original cut of NURSE SHERRI and it's quite different from the one that we all know so well. There are three scenes missing that were shot after the fact for the actual release of the film. Instead we get a ton of nudity and it's all good.

As for additional extras we get trailers and some old school drive-in intermission filler. And there is an interview with ebony beauty Marilyn Joi who still looks damned good after all these years.

Shock-O-Rama has managed to put together the definitive Al Adamson double bill in this set. A must have for any true fan of low-budget films. – Douglas Waltz

FIVE BLOODY GRAVES/NURSE SHERRI is available from Amazon.

Six Years of Exhumed 24 Hour Horrorthons... And Counting

I always love when a weekend hits pretty much all of my interests in one fell, 48 hour swoop. Though I was happy to spend yesterday throwing back cups of chowder and chatting with old friends at Long Beach Island's annual Chowderfest, Friday night definitely got the festivities started on a particularly high note.

Not only did I get to try some very good barbecue at a local joint I wasn't familiar with (watch The Hungover Gourmet for a full review), a bunch of pals and I got to see Italian prog rock and horror soundtrack maestros Goblin during their first ever North American tour. There's nothing quite like hearing the thundering scores from some of your favorite horror movies come to life – and split your eardrums in the process. (If you missed them, shame on you. But you get another chance as they're making another trip to the States later this year.)

During the course of the evening the topic occasionally turned towards what horror films we'd been watching or were planning on watching during the Halloween season and that topic inevitably led to talk of Exhumed Films 24 Hour Horrorthons both past and future. (Speaking of future, the image above is the mockup of the shirt for this year's even by Burneyart.) At one point, Cinema Arcana editor Bruce Holecheck remarked what a really staggering amount of stuff the two of us had seen over the course of the six marathons we had attended.

I did some quick math in my head and calculated it had been approximately 84 flicks (14 film per year average x six years) but I felt like I needed to dig out my lists and see exactly how many films we're talking. Plus, for the life of me, I couldn't remember 90% of what played last year.

So here's a running tally of what features have been screened at the first six Exhumed Films 24 Hour Horrorthons...

2007

1. HALLOWEEN

2. GODZILLA VS THE COSMIC MONSTER

3. DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK

4. HELLRAISER

5. PHANTASM

6. PIECES

7. AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

8. BLACULA

9. BURIAL GROUND

10. TEENAGE MOTHER

11. DRACULA VS FRANKENSTEIN

12. DEMONS

13. ALLIGATOR

14. GATES OF HELL

2008

15. THE FOG

16. DESTROY ALL MONSTERS

17. PHANTASM 2

18. WICKED WICKED

19. NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

20. THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN

21. THE BOOGEYMAN

22. FRIGHT NIGHT

23. DEAD & BURIED

24. ISLAND OF THE DAMNED (aka WHO CAN KILL A CHILD?)

25. EQUINOX

26. TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2

27. FOOD OF THE GODS

28. RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD

2009

29. CREEPSHOW

30. GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND

31. THE FLY (Cronenberg)

32. THE OBLONG BOX

33. FRIDAY THE 13TH PART IV

34. RAW FORCE

35. THE NEXT VICTIM

36. CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD

37. HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD

38. TRAUMA

39. LADY TERMINATOR

40. THE CHILDREN

41. PIRANHA

42. RE-ANIMATOR

2010

43. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 3

44. MIGHTY PEKING MAN

45. THE VAULT OF HORROR

46. IT LIVES AGAIN

47. DAWN OF THE DEAD (Romero)

48. THE DEADLY SPAWN

49. PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE

50. FIVE ELEMENTS NINJAS

51. THE FUNHOUSE

52. THE HOWLING

53. BOARDINGHOUSE

54. FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2

55. BUG

56. HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY

2011

57. PSYCHOMANIA

58. RODAN

59. FRIGHTMARE

60. HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER

61. THE DEAD

62. TRICK OR TREAT

63. NIGHT WARNING

64. FRANKENHOOKER

65. DR BLACK, MR HYDE

66. LEGEND OF THE WOLF WOMAN

67. BLOOD DINER

68. THE BURNING

69. MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE

70. MEET THE FEEBLES

2012

71. THE GATE

72. Q

73. THE DRILLER KILLER

74. XTRO

75. HALLOWEEN III

76. SUSPIRIA

77. CHUD

78. NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS

79. VAMPIRES NIGHT ORGY

80. THE HIDDEN

81. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND THE MONSTERS

82. SON OF BLOB

83. INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN

84. HUMONGOUS

85. DR. BUTCHER, MD

New Korean Horror Anthology Promises to Go for the Jugular

Longtime readers are well aware of my affinity for horror anthologies so it should come as no surprise I'm excited to check out HORROR STORIES (aka MOO-SEO-WOONI-YA-GI), a collection of four horror tales from Korea slated for release on October 8th.

Horror anthologies might be everywhere these days, but the Korean entry Horror Stories raises the bar with four terrifying stories (and a nail-biting wraparound tale), each one chilling enough to be its own feature. If you thought this was going to be a tame collection of teen-friendly “ghost girl” stories – think again. Horror Stories goes right for the jugular with non-stop splatter, intense shocks and riveting suspense. A high school girl is abducted and forced by a psycho to tell him the scariest tales she knows. 

An international genre festival success from Sitges to Fantasia, this is one of the best Korean horror films in years and has been called “one of the scariest Asian horror anthologies of the 21st century”.

Check out the trailer below and look for a review on an upcoming Anthology Flick Friday!

31 DAYS OF FRIGHT: ADAM CHAPLIN - VIOLENT AVENGER (2011)

One of the problems with publishing annually is knowing just when to put on the brakes. With each passing week and trip to the PO Box the review section for ER #52 grows and grows and grows, threatening to push the zine (and its humble editor) to its limits.

But some flicks just can't wait for the printed page. Some flicks can't be contained. Some flicks plead to be unleashed on an unsuspecting viewing public as soon as possible.

Emanuele De Santi's berserk ADAM CHAPLIN: VIOLENT AVENGER is just such a flick.

When Adam (played by writer/director De Santi) discovers that his wife has been killed by the local crime boss he sets out on a mission of revenge, hell bent on killing anyone that stands in his path.

Pretty standard stuff, right?

But what separates ADAM CHAPLIN from the endless parade of flicks with similar stories (many of which are currently housed in my Netflix queue) is that we're treated to an almost non-stop parade of insanely hyper-stylized supernatural action gore in which our frequently shirtless vigilante "hero" roams the fictitious town of Heaven Valley literally pulverizing anyone even remotely involved in his wife's demise.

Oh, did I forget to mention the demon that lives in his shoulder and encourages/guides/needles him throughout his blood-soaked 90-minute rampage? How about the crime boss who wears a mask to hide a decaying face disfigured by constant doses of a drug called Neurocil 3 being pumped through his veins? Well, there's that, too.

Like a dark, disturbing slice of manga that has somehow leapt off the page and onto your tv screen, ADAM CHAPLIN mashes together every idea ever imagined by a violence-addled adolescent and fuses it with Italian religious and familial fetishizing then blends in the kind of extreme gore I thought I'd only see from the likes of Andreas Schnaas or Olaf Ittenbach.

And it totally works.

Jaw-dropping from the get-go (two heads roll within the first 30 seconds), ADAM CHAPLIN: VIOLENT AVENGER is a flick that begs to be seen with a roomful of like-minded video mutants. Sure, you might miss the nuances of such subtitled dialogue as "only hatred can lead you in this story..." but you won't care as Chaplin stomps through the Troma-esque wasteland punching his hand through the chest of a corrupt cop or throwing some Ultimate Warrior wannabe off a roof.

I'm disappointed that De Santi – who looks like the gigantic slightly mutant offspring of Beef from PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE and Jon Mikl Thor – doesn't appear to have anything in the works after this eye-popping debut. However, I was happy to hear that Giulio De Santi – who played the crime boss's son and supervised CHAPLIN's extensive visual effects – was behind the futuristic sci-fi gorefest TAETER CITY (check out the trailer below).

One can only hope the pair continue to bring this kind of outrageous sinema to our shores for many years to come! – Dan Taylor

ADAM CHAPLIN: VIOLENT AVENGER is available from Amazon.

31 DAYS OF FRIGHT: SPLATTER FARM (2007)

When the time comes to find a reviewer for shot-on-video splatter, Doug Waltz is my man! A longtime contributor to ER, Doug will also be making his Hungover Gourmet debut with a look at the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes animated series for our upcoming print edition.

A pair of twin teenage boys are making their way to their Aunt Lacey's farm to help out for the summer. One of them isn't all that keen on going because Aunt Lacey seems a little too "grabby" for his taste. Maybe if she was his hot aunt instead of the pizza-dough-fleshed Aunt Lacey it might be okay, but she ain't so it isn't.

Anyway, when they get there Aunt Lacey has a new handyman working for her. His name is Jeremy and, well we know from the get go that Jeremy is not quite right in the head. The movie opens with him dismembering a corpse with an axe and the 80s gore flies everywhere. To make sure that we are thoroughly offended, Jeremy grabs one of the severed hands and shoves it into his pants and masturbates with it.

Say it with me people: Ewwwwwwwwww!

Later, to maintain that level of offensiveness we get to watch Jeremy receive head from a severed head and he seems awfully fond of self-mutilation. In one scene he slits his wrist and after one of the boys sees it he runs out of the barn and retches up his guts. To make that even worse, the DVD's accompanying documentary and commentary track explain that the stuff they used for puke was rotten so the first part of the vomit is fake, but there rest of it is quite real.

Those wacky Polonia Brothers!

Once the boys get there the atrocities continue. From Aunt Lacey drugging her favorite one and raping him to Jeremy taking the other twin out to the barn, pissing on his face and then fisting him. Of course with all that fisting you end up with a pretty dirty hand. No worries there as Jeremy wipes the excrement on the kid's face.

That's right, folks! It's the 20th anniversary of the Polonia Brothers classic SPLATTER FARM. Don't know who the Polonia Brothers are? Well, shame on you. The brothers hail from Pennsylvania and have been producing micro-budget films for quite some time. They gave us the classic alien invasion flick FEEDERS with the requisite sequel entitled FEEDERS 2 (guest starring Santa Claus). They have given us psychotic bunnies in PETER ROTTENTAIL and killer Sasquatch in AMONG US. Nobody does it cheaper than the Polonia Brothers and it shows. But, not so much in this flick. It's just one cheesy gore piece after another and it looks just like all the shot-on-video stuff from the 80's looked. There are some very nice shots done in the movie and you can tell they had come from shooting on film.

It's important to note that this is a 20th anniversary print so it is not the original one that haunted the mom and pop video stores of yesteryear. The brothers Polonia edited it down, added some music and made it look much better than it ever did.

Included on the DVD are a nice little set of extras. We get a commentary with Mark and John and if you have never listened to a Polonia Brothers commentary then your life is not complete. What they do to accomplish what you see on screen is nothing short of amazing.

There's also a documentary where they go back to the original locations and see how much things have changed. Other extras include some history of both the film and the shot-on-video business from the time period. Good stuff.

While The Polonia Brothers' newer endeavors come across as slicker and better shot – if that's possible – SPLATTER FARM has a certain energy that makes it (probably) one of their better flicks. – Douglas Waltz

SPLATTER FARM is available at Amazon.

Italian Action Gore Thy Name is ADAM CHAPLIN

Yesterday afternoon I posted on the ER Facebook page that I was putting the brakes on the bulging review section for issue #52. Every time I stopped at the PO Box there were new, exciting titles I wanted to include, especially since it'll be another year before our next issue. Oh sure, there's always our blog and site, but there's nothing like that printed review as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, after mailing off THE ODD ANGRY SHOT and AN AMERICAN HIPPIE IN ISRAEL to reviewers I found a key in my PO Box heralding another packet of digital goodies.

"Eh," I figured. "Probably yet another zombie movie."

 Damn. After looking at the new FRIDAY THE 13TH documentary and Grindhouse Releasing's sweet looking release of the Peter Cushing flick CORRUPTION it became obvious I had some viewing to do before I could put the issue to bed.

Oh yeah, and this was in there, too. Which I watched last night. Consider my mind officially blown by its blend of supernatural action gore. And a wisecracking demon. Full review to come in ER #52.

Eurotrash Weekend Viewing: ALIEN CONTAMINATION and CAT O' NINE TAILS

Busy weekend of painting the kitchen here at Casa Taylor, but I did manage to squeeze in a couple Eurotrash views.

While trawling through the Amazon Prime streaming listings on Friday night I discovered Luigi Cozzi's ALIEN CONTAMINATION, a favorite from the 80s rental store era. I still have fond memories of sitting on my buddy Lou's living room floor, stashing empty beer cans under the sofa as we heard his dad come in from a night on the town. Rather than head to bed he proceeded to drop into a chair and relentlessly bust our balls about how a bunch people sit in a room in Italy coming up with movies these two goofballs in New Jersey will rent.

Even though it was the cut US version distributed by Cannon, it's still a funky and fun explodey sci-fi/horror/action hybrid. No matter how many times I see it that exploding lab rat always gets me and when it veers into the mind-control cyclops territory, well, I'm all in. Would make fun double bill with LIFEFORCE.

After watching the first half hour of CAT O' NINE TAILS on Saturday night I was able to polish it off on Sunday evening, and as ER contributor John Grace opined at the ER Facebook page it is "creaky and dull". It starts off nicely enough with Karl Malden as the blind puzzle lover overhearing bits of blackmail talk and other audio clues, but then it turns into the James Franciscus show with him running around as a hot shot reporter trying to solve the rash of mysterious murders and what they have to do with the break-in at the genetic research facility.

Malden's character disappears for long stretches and the audio-centric REAR WINDOW riff concept sorta gets tossed out the, er, window. Long and drawn out, the flick has a few fun moments and Argento stages several strangulation murders as brutal affairs, but the whole thing left me feeling very "who cares?".

I've come to the conclusion that I enjoy the period of Argento flicks from SUSPIRIA through OPERA but everything before or after that era sorta leaves me cold. I still have to work my way through some 90s and early 00s titles like SLEEPLESS, TRAUMA and STENDAHL SYNDROME (not to mention, shudder, DRACULA) though I'm not even sure why I'm doing it at this point!

What did you watch this weekend?

31 DAYS OF FRIGHT: Wait? THE BURNING MOON is an Anthology?!

THE BURNING MOON – Olaf Ittenbach's shot-on-video gore-stravaganza from the 1990s – has been in my "Emergency Flicks Box" for several years. You know, that box filled with DVD-R titles, thrifted VHS and $5 bin impulse purchases that you keep around for those nights when you just can't find anything else to watch. I'd caught glimpses of the flick here and there and assumed it was some kind of Teutonic zombiefest that was shot in somebody's basement between golden shower loops. Little did I know it was one of the most wrong-headed anthology flicks ever committed to tape.

"Wait, what? THE BURNING MOON is an anthology flick?!"

Peter (Ittenbach) is a shiftless, lazy, drugged-out punk who likes to drink beer and rumble in fog-laden alleys with his pals and other Krautpunks. After an unsuccessful job interview and a fight with his long-suffering parents, he gets pressed into service babysitting for his little sister. Displeased by this plan he decides to shoot up, stare at the moon and wake his little sister up so he can share some deadtime stories with her.

Tale number one – 'Julia's Love' – is your classic "wait, the guy I'm dating is an escaped psychopath who has been taken off his meds?" story, except that when Julia ditches Cliff after their romantic dinner he doesn't take it sitting down. He heads to Julia's house and hatchets her whole family to death in grisly, paint-the-screen-red fashion. In other words, Cliff makes AMERICAN PSYCHO's Patrick Bateman look like a guy you'd gladly invite to dinner with the whole family, including Gammie, Grampie and little Tommy. Ittenbach packs the tale with decapitated heads, slow-mo head explosions, eyeball swallowing and lines like "I want to have kids with you, I want to penetrate you, I want you to absorb all my love juice" with nary a wink at the screen. Neither Cliff nor Ittenbach is screwing around and the tale is so packed with wet, squishy gore effects you'll be reaching for a paper towel to wipe off the bone fragments and brain matter.

Shifting gears for the second tale – inexplicably set in 1957 – Ittenbach strings us along with talk of recipes and knitting patterns, getting us all comfy until he can haul out the rape-happy, gun-toting priest of Moustachetown. Leisurely paced to the point of head scratching, 'The Purity' finds the townsfolk quick to blame the local outcast for the spree of rape and murder haunting their little hamlet. When the residents decide to exact their revenge (despite no proof and the fact that the priest has blown his own head off), the evil priest, innocent dweeb and Ittenbach turn the tables by offering up an ambitious, gore-soaked, eight-minute descent into low-budget Hell complete with disembowelings, cannibals (?), zombies (?), eye violence, extreme dental work and much worse.

Though I wish the second segment had gotten to the point (whatever that may be) a bit sooner and made time for a third segment, THE BURNING MOON is still a recommended, riveting and whacked out slice of shot-on-video gore. I'm bummed it took me so long to get around to seeing it because I think I'd have enjoyed clearing a party by looping his disturbing take on Hell.

Watching this early work it's no surprise that Ittenbach has gone on to direct and/or provide gore effects for such off-the-wall efforts as LEGION OF THE DEAD, CHAIN REACTION (aka HOUSE OF BLOOD) and Uwe Boll's underrated BLOODRAYNE. Though I hear much of his work that gets released here suffers from edits inflicted by the DVD companies, they're still worth tracking down (especially HOUSE OF BLOOD which is currently streaming on Netflix).

The Intervision release includes a German-language making-of feature with on-set footage and an interview with Ittenbach. For more on Ittenbach check out our pal David Zuzelo's take on THE BURNING MOON which is sure to be more informed than mine! – DT

THE BURNING MOON is available from Amazon.

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