grindhouse-experience-volume-1 Those of you unfamiliar with Mondo may want to take note that it is most certainly not going to be everybody’s cup o’ tea as it is typically filled with bizarre rituals, nudity, sex and graphic, bloody violence from around the world. Often overflowing with gruesome sequences depicting mutilated animals and the human casualties of war, execution and accidents; watching a Mondo film is like settling in for a night of National Geographic edited by sadistic perverts. It cannot be stressed enough that while many Mondo films feature facts of zoological and anthropological interest, they’re still exploitation films and should never be mistaken for anything remotely educational. You’d think most would know that but some folks might be tempted to see this thinking they’ll learn something of worth. Trust me, you’ll not Continue reading »

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adam-chaplin My first encounter with this movie was through this trailer which at a first glance (well, the first minute of it at least) looked kind of cheesy, that very particular cheese that so many low budget shot on video gore movies tend to be full of. You know, just a movie without ever reflecting on narrative etc, just pour on the gore. This can be good in itself but very straining on your patience. But then came a couple of really striking scenes and I knew I had to have this. I hopped on the filmmaker’s website and about five minutes after watching the trailer I had ordered it. It arrived yesterday (a bit smashed up due to the fucking post office but working just fine) and I popped it into the DVD player to hopefully get an entertaining experience. And by God it is!

Adam Chaplin might actually be one of the best comic book movies I have ever seen. It is not based on a comic but the story, the visuals and most importantly – the violence, are all as if torn Continue reading »

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savage-island When the gorgeous Daly makes an appointment to see a shady jewel dealer named Luker (as in filthy?), she has no intention of purchasing precious gems, she’s out for cold-hard revenge. Armed with righteous fury and a machine gun, Daly weaves a tale of terror on a jungle island that Luker will never forget!

Let’s be upfront here, this isn’t a “grindhouse” film, despite the label being slapped on the front of the DVD case. These days pretty much everybody uses the words “grindhouse” and “cult classic” for whatever the hell they please, almost to the point of stripping the words of any real meaning. It was bound to happen, there’s no sense whining about it as, eventually, the trend will burn itself out. Until Continue reading »

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Despite a foreboding aerial reception, a nosy environmentalist and her cameraman sneak onto a small island in order to monitor the possibly illegal activities of the multinational conglomerate known as E-Chem. After successfully sneaking into the E-Chem facility, the pair witness a truly horrific sight, the company is disposing of its radioactive waste in the island’s active volcano! They video tape the entire process but are forced to quickly hide the tape after being caught by security. E-Chem is the least of their troubles though, the radioactive volcano begins generating massive amounts of energy becoming a beacon, of sorts, which attracts an alien lifeform!

The island is thrown into chaos as E-Chem and the Continue reading »

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A small, snow-covered mountain town becomes a bloody battleground when a gang of cunning bounty killers are hired to apprehend religious outlaws hiding in the outlying wooded hills. Preferring to bring them in dead rather than alive, Loco the leader of the bounty killers quickly butts heads with the new sheriff concerning the ruthless methods he employs to collect bounties and his disrespectful transportation of bodies.

When a new gunslinger comes into town, Loco and his boys discover that this is no ordinary hired gun but the legendary Silence; a mute gunman with almost supernatural speed and aim. Turns out Continue reading »

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I’ll admit it, the thought of reviewing another Umberto Lenzi movie filled me with a certain amount of trepidation. This is one seriously inconsistent film maker that you just never know what to expect from. Some of his movies are a joy to watch, others are just plain painful, yes I’m looking at you Black Demons.

Man From Deep River though did have a couple of good selling points that filled me with a little hope. Firstly, the lead is played by Ivan Rassimov, that stalwart of Italian exploitation, secondly, he is joined on screen by Me Me Lai, who is one fine looking lady, and finally it is a cannibal movie. Well, the first too are true, but the third is slightly misleading, more on that later though.

So, with high hopes, higher than they were anyway, I popped the disc in Continue reading »

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Thunder is back in town and he’s come to claim his wife but before he can do anything he’s got to stop the desecration of his tribe’s cemetery, fight off a roughneck construction crew, wage guerrilla warfare against the local police department and pretty much level half a town.

The white man isn’t dealing with just any redskin, Thunder was bred to be a warrior and the only way to diffuse this ticking time bomb is for construction to stop in the cemetery and for the police to call in Trautman before Rambo does any more damage. Wait…which film was this again Continue reading »

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When you here the name Umberto Lenzi the first thing that springs to mind is probably cannibal movies. Lenzi being the director responsible for such beauties as Eaten Alive and Make Them Die Slowly, as well as the zombie movie Nightmare City. So you may (or may not) be surprised to know that he wasn’t always a gore machine.

Seven Blood Stained Orchids was made a few years before the aforementioned movies and actually shows that he was capable of making well acted, tightly plotted thrillers with almost no bloodshed. I did say almost, this is Lenzi we are talking about here!

Maybe he was just jumping onto the bandwagon of whatever was Continue reading »

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When most people think of movies by Lucio Fulci a couple of things usually come to mind, either his Zombie related movies and/or that he isn’t a particularly good director. However, I have yet to meet anyone that has seen all of his near 60 movies that he directed. I know for sure that I have only seen maybe a dozen tops. As for his skills as a director, well he may not be the most original when it comes to ideas, but his directorial skills are severely underrated in my opinion.

The thing is if you don’t like his style chances are you won’t give Don’t Torture A Duckling a second look. Well, that would Continue reading »

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Who really knows what it is that brings the dead back to life in zombie movies? It could be a virus, radiation, voodoo or anything other number of things. One thing I am fairly positive of though is that whatever infection affects the creatures in these movies must also be affecting the film-making skills of some of the directors making the movies. Let’s face it, the zombie genre has far more than its fair share of shambling, lifeless crap out there clagging up perfectly decent shelf space.

With this in mind I foolishly decided to give Black Demons another viewing. Part of the reason behind this is because it is also known as Demons 3 (along with about 2000 other movies) and Continue reading »

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A serial killer is kidnapping women and challenging police to online poker games, with the abductees’ lives as the stakes. One detective, Anna, investigates the case with John, an Irish forensics expert from the British embassy. They must follow up on what the psychological profile of the killer suggests: s/he gets off on taking risks. Their investigations lead them into the Roman underworld of illegal video poker bars, where they find an expert poker player willing to help them save the women’s lives.

Some Dario Argento fans may find the absence of the director’s usual extravagant stylization in The Card Player a disappointment. I would disagree, in that it’s good not to repeat yourself all the time, and that the contemporary hi-tech Continue reading »

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I have to admit that over the past few months I have had a pretty good run with movies involving Nuns. First there was School of the Holy Beast, a wonderful piece of Nunsploitation that never failed to shock. Next up was the cleverly titled The Nun which was a terrific little ghost story. I then rounded off my Nun kick by digging out a copy of The Convent, pulp horror goodness all the way.

As the saying goes though, all good things must come to an end, and lo and behold they have. How could I be let down by a movie with the title Killer Nun? Very fucking easily as it turns out. To say that this movie is a non-event would be an understatement.

Sister Gertrude (Anita Ekberg) looks after the infirmed at what Continue reading »

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