Film Review: Fresh Meat’s ‘Rat Scratch Fever’ (2011) Conjures Feverish Visions of Mattei’s Scurrying Scarefest

 Action, Exploitation, J. Andersson, Sci-Fi  No Responses »
May 082012
 

rat-scratch-fever Brought back from a doomed space mission, an army of giant rats develop a big appetite for Los Angeles residents.

Well, the plot for this little nugget of joy was enough for me to buy the movie, especially after viewing the trailer that is a feast of loving cheese full of tacky models and full size mutant rat heads. Yes, I had to own it and as soon as the DVD arrived I sat down in front of the TV (to my girlfriends great pain. Not a fan of cheesy monster movies I’m afraid to say) and started to worry. Can this really be good? 105 minutes of low budget monsters can be painful if the heart isn’t in the right place. So, let’s get down to brass tacks. Rat Scratch Fever is essentially a throwback Continue reading »

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Film Review: ‘Evidence’ (2011) Presents a Familiar, and Entertaining, Found Footage Scenario

 Horror, J. Andersson  No Responses »
Mar 222012
 

A group of youths go out into the woods to shoot a documentary. They moan and whine and even more so when strange things start to happen such as weird sounds in the night, dark animal shapes that are just glimpsed. Some of them want to leave but others don’t and it all leads to nastiness.

This was a description of just about every single Found footage movie that has poured out on DVD at the constant rate of camera prices going down. Most of these are frankly crap, made by people who have no real understanding of how such a movie works. We get a few gold nuggets such as [REC] and Cloverfield, but these are few and far between. Evidence starts out EXACTLY like you Continue reading »

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Film Review: ‘The Whisperer in Darkness’ (2011) Continues the Trend of Masterful Lovecraft Adaptations

 Drama, Fantasy, Horror, J. Andersson, Sci-Fi  No Responses »
Mar 082012
 

the-whisperer-in-darkness 2005 faux silent movie Call of Cthulhu stands as one of the best adaptations of H. P. Lovecraft, if not actually the best. It worked around the pitfalls of presenting material that really can’t be “shown” as if it was made during the heyday of silent cinema and did an exceptionally good job of it with surrealistic miniatures and a strong set design. Now comes the next production from the very same filmmakers and this time we move forward in time with an adaptation of the short story The Whisperer in Darkness as a 1930-1940ish horror movie. My expectations were sky high.

The original short story deals with strange and alien creatures haunting a farmer in the forests of Vermont and the revelation of their purpose as Continue reading »

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Staff Picks: Joachim Andersson 2/12

 J. Andersson, Staff Picks  No Responses »
Feb 222012
 

monsters Monsters (2010) – Hands down the best movie I have seen in the last five years, there aren’t enough words in the English language to describe the feelings I have for this one. It isn’t even a proper movie, more of a journey through a landscape slowly transforming into something alien and speaking of alien, this is one of the more probable versions of what actually would happen if space creatures arrived on earth. Last but not least, the movie also has a totally awesome soundtrack that fits the movie like a glove and makes me all warm and fuzzy when I listen to it. A prequel and a sequel is in the works – I will be first in line. Frankly, I will kill to get in line ahead of all of you. Continue reading »

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Staff Picks: Joachim Andersson 1/12

 J. Andersson, Staff Picks  No Responses »
Jan 162012
 

night-of-the-devils Night of the Devils (La notte dei diavoli – 1972) – This superior chiller was based on the same Tolstoy story that Mario Bava used in Black Sabbath. In my opinion this one is superior, with Gianni Garko taking a shortcut through a forest, smashing up his car and ends up in a house besieged by vampires. Lots of atmosphere, a bit of juicy gore designed by Carlo Rambaldi and the lovely Agostina Belli without any clothing. This one is not available on DVD I’m afraid and the only way to see it is on VHS/VHS-rip but it is worth it. Continue reading »

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Film Review: Italian Splatter Films Shake in the Demonic Presence of ‘Adam Chaplin’ (2011)

 Demons, Extreme, Horror, Italy, J. Andersson, Revenge  No Responses »
Jan 112012
 

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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Film Review: There’s No Happy Honeymoon Awaiting These ‘Brides of Blood’ (1968)

 Asian Cinema, Horror, J. Andersson  No Responses »
Jan 062012
 

brides-of-blood Really, do I need to review this movie? Just look at those lovely pictures… they tell you everything you need to know. Blood, boobs and glorious rubber monsters. This is one of these movies that leave you with fluttering butterflies in your stomach.

A nice group arrives at an island in the Philippines to teach the natives the ways of civilization and look for any traces of nuclear testing. There’s the elderly professor, his horny wife that screws anything that moves (except for her husband) and the young guy who would like to screw everything that moves and inevitably will get into the pants of the chiefs wife. It seems the natives have a lottery going on for the village’s young females and the winner will be tied to a pole while an Continue reading »

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Film Review: Shinya Tsukamoto Returns with Experimental Metal Actioner ‘Tetsuo – The Bullet Man’ (2009)

 Action, Asian Cinema, Experimental, J. Andersson, Japan, Sci-Fi  No Responses »
Dec 162011
 

tetsuo-the-bullet-man FINALLY! The Iron man is back! With a vengeance! And in… English? WTF? Then again, we always knew that if there was another Tetsuo movie there would be lots of WTFs. Twenty-two years after the original Tetsuo and nineteen after the sequel, Shinya Tsukamoto finally returns to the wonders of biomechanical psychopathics and more loving fusions of flesh and metal.

An American man living in Japan with his Japanese wife and their son is struck by grief when a mysterious man kills the young boy by running him over with a car. As this is a Shinya Tsukamoto movie this event triggers something in our hero, making him turn into a metal beast and he starts searching in his past to why Continue reading »

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Film Review: Lieh Lo’s ‘Black Magic with Buddha’ (Nao mo – 1983) Combines Outlandish Gore & Stunning Amounts of CAT III Sleaze

 Asian Cinema, CAT III, Exploitation, Extreme, Fantasy, Hong Kong, Horror, J. Andersson, Revenge  No Responses »
Nov 282011
 

black-magic-with-buddha I’ve learned something today. Evil Thai mummy brains aren’t something you should mess about with; it’s as simple as that. And if you do feel like keeping them for your own personal gain, make sure you feed them regularly. They tend to get rather mad if they are hungry. Like any other pet really. That’s something the protagonist of low budget Hong Kong sleaze Black Magic with Buddha learns when he goes to Thailand, takes home a brain with magic powers to use for his own personal gain. You see, our hero is somewhat of a looser. Only somewhat though, for a CAT III hero he is actually fairly likeable. He means well I suppose, he just doesn’t seem to think of the consequences of what he is doing, and the fact that it kills his sister and his wife’s family, well, he never seems to care that much about it. He comes off as Continue reading »

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Film Review: ‘Humongous’ (1982) Lives Again Thru Scorpion Releasing’s “Katarina’s Nightmare Theater” Series

 Horror, J. Andersson  No Responses »
Nov 182011
 

humongous The Canadian Tax shelter films of the 70s and early 80s has given the world quite a few fun excursions into horror, movies like Rituals, Black Christmas and not to mention all the early Cronenbergs are still true classics in my book. It all fell apart in 1980 when it became obvious that a lot of movies were made just to make a quick buck through some loopholes but not before Paul Lynch gave us Humongous, a movie available on VHS in crappy, very dark transfers where you aren’t able to see jack shit. Until now.

When the movie starts we are at a party at a lake house sometime during the 50s and a woman is running from an unwanted suitor who strikes her Continue reading »

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Film Review: Marchent’s ‘Cut Throats Nine’ (1972) Brutalizes The Spaghetti Western Genre

 Action, Exploitation, Extreme, J. Andersson, Rape/Revenge, Revenge, Spaghetti Westerns, Spain, Westerns  No Responses »
Nov 152011
 

cut-throats-nine I can imagine the filmmakers having a meeting before the shoot, before a script is presented. They want to make a western, that has been decided, but the writer is seething with anger. He has probably just gotten through a nasty divorce and is angry. They want a movie without heroes. They want everyone that dies to die in the most brutal way possible and the mood should be uncomfortable and filthy.

Boy did they succeed.

A group of soldiers are on their way to a fort with a number of chained Continue reading »

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