Recent viewings

[Rev. Powell]

ODISSEA DELLA MORTE (2019): A bland protagonist rides around in the back of a limo interviewing (and sexing up) suspects in his girlfriend's murder, while nude girls occasionally recite bad poetry in black and white, and so forth. The killer is revealed early, or something; I couldn't be bothered to care. This is what results when you want to make a surreal giallo tribute but all you have is vacation footage, access to a couple of aspiring actresses willing to get naked, a limo rental for the afternoon, and a poorly-founded disdain for storytelling. 1/5.

[Alex]

THE FOG (1980)

An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.

Another classic from my favorite director John Carpenter. A very simple movie in which the scenarios make the most of it, the story take us into an extremely engaging old legend about some sailors which died during a strange event, and as the 100th anniversary occurs, the truth unfolds.
There's zero gore but the atmosphere is simply amazing, and the look of the drowned sailors is great, especially by the end of the movie. Also, Tom Atkins and Jamie Lee Curtis are always great. They have great chemistry between the two of them, I wonder why they didn't make more movies together.
Check this one out, it's great. Extra points if you happen to be in a coastal town! 8/10 

Not only a coastal town but one with a lighthouse and regular fog banks coming in lol. Oh, and the town also had its own maritime tragedy.

The Stotfield fishing disaster was the first of several fishing disasters of the 19th century on the east coast of Scotland. A storm struck the Moray Firth on 25 December 1806. Compared to the Moray Firth fishing disaster of 1848 or the Eyemouth Disaster of 1881, the Stotfield disaster was small. However, although in other major disasters many more lives and boats were lost, the effect at Stotfield was arguably worse. There, the village lost its entire fleet of three fishing boats. More importantly, it lost all of its able-bodied men and youths in one afternoon.

[Rev. Powell]

SEX MADNESS REVEALED (2018): A podcaster watches the 1938 syphilis scare film "Sex Madness" with a special guest who reveals the bizarre history of its production: revelations involve secret societies, blackmail, murder, and more. A great idea; but for me, at least, the execution didn't completely realize the conceptual promise. The DVD includes the complete original version of "Sex Madness" (a mostly boring "naughty" exploitation film that you might get a kick out of). 3/5.

[Rev. Powell]

THE DEEPER YOU DIG (2019): A man accidentally hits a teenage girl one night, then tries to cover it up; meanwhile, her mom, a fake psychic, develops real powers as she investigates her daughter's disappearance. A slow, budget haunt that picks up a little bit at the halfway mark when the mom's inventive hallucinations start. The production's backstory is more interesting than the movie: the three main actors are a real-life dad, mom and daughter, and the couple co-writes and directs. It doesn't have distribution yet, but seems like something that would fit on Amazon Prime. 2.5/5

[lester1/2jr]

Angel on My Shoulder (1946) - the title is stupid: it should have been called Devil on My Shoulder but Paul Muni is good in this okay noir ish thingy.

A Gangster gets shot by a mug called Smiley ( he smiles all the time) and goes to Hell, which looks like Dante's Inferno if you've seen that. He finagles a deal to come back to earth but he's a judge now. Being a gangster, hes not very well cut out to be a judge but he works to make it work.  Paul Muni is a badass type that is gone from our society and movies.

3.75 /5  

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038300/

anne baxter the female lead is hot

[FatFreddysCat]

"Hellboy" (2019)
The demonic monster-fightin' super hero travels to England, where a freshly resurrected witch from the days of King Arthur has plans to bring about the end of the world. In other words, it's just another day at the office for the Big Red Guy.
I wasn't expecting much from this reboot attempt by Neil "The Descent" Marshall after its epic crash and burn at the box office earlier this year, but it's actually a pretty fun watch, loaded with hordes of toothy creatures, ultra-violence and splashy gore.
The new guy in the Hellboy suit (David Harbour of "Stranger Things") is clearly having a blast, but he's no Ron Perlman, and obviously the whole thing absolutely pales in comparison to Guillermo del Toro's still-awesome pair of early-'00s "Hellboy" flicks.
So, not a total disappointment but not a must-see, either.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies" (1993)
Todd Philips, later of "The Hangover" and the upcoming "Joker" fame, directed this disturbing low budget doc about the late, not-so-great GG Allin, the notorious death obsessed, feces flingin', brutally violent punk rocker. After spending an hour-plus watching this looney tune verbally and physically abuse himself and his audience, you'll feel like you need a shower. I feel safer knowing he's not walking around loose anymore. Seriously, this is just... ugh. (shudder)

[Rev. Powell]

"Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies" (1993)
Todd Philips, later of "The Hangover" and the upcoming "Joker" fame, directed this disturbing low budget doc about the late, not-so-great GG Allin, the notorious death obsessed, feces flingin', brutally violent punk rocker. After spending an hour-plus watching this looney tune verbally and physically abuse himself and his audience, you'll feel like you need a shower. I feel safer knowing he's not walking around loose anymore. Seriously, this is just... ugh. (shudder)

Yeah, that was awful. Feel bad movie of the decade. Not really recommended. I saw it on VHS when it was released and had no idea it was made by the guy who later did THE HANGOVER.

UNDER THE SILVER LAKE (2018): A Los Angeles slacker becomes obsessed with the disappearance of his hot blonde neighbor, and his investigations lead him to uncover increasingly bizarre conspiracies involving a dog murderer, hidden messages in songs by the hip new band "Jesus and the Brides of Dracula," and secret death cults. If you wanted more INHERENT VICE, here comes another messy California-set stoner conspiracy theory noir; this one puts you inside the mind of a paranoid and dangerously unhinged antihero. Definitely a love-it-or-hate-it thing. 4/5.

[indianasmith]

BLOOD FEST - A horror movie convention turns into a slaughterhouse for all the eager fans who show up to see their favorite stars in action.  Zombies, killer clowns, murderous vampire babes, creepy baby dolls, and Saw-like traps await the hapless convention goers - but who is behind it all, and why?  A fun movie for horror movie fans that veers between parody and genuine scares.  4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Hype!" (1996)
Cool documentary that examines the Seattle music scene of the 90s, zooming in on the lesser known local bands that were left behind after the Nirvana/AIC/ Soundgarden-fueled major label feeding frenzy subsided. As far as most of the folks in this movie are concerned, the grunge craze was the absolute *worst* thing that could've happened to their city's music scene, because things were never the same after the mainstream invaded Seattle, finished sucking it dry, and moved on.
A fun '90s time capsule.

[FatFreddysCat]

This must be my week for weird music documentaries.  First it was GG Allin, and now this...

"A Family Underground" (2008)
A document of the 2008 Gathering of the Juggalos festival, seen mostly through the eyes of a couple who made the trek all the way from England (!) to witness four life-changing days of music (by Insane Clown Posse, Twiztid, Ice-T, Afroman, Three 6 Mafia, and many more), toxic substances, backyard wrestling, and general debauchery.

Non-Juggalos (such as myself) will either find this flick unintentionally hilarious, or depressing, depending on your patience for the philosophical ramblings of unwashed weirdos in bad clown makeup and ugly girls showing their boobs.

I still don't "get" the ICP/Juggalo thing at all, but I can't deny that the Gathering looks like it's a hell of a party. To quote Ice-T, "this is some cult sh*t." Sooooo, umm...  yea, whoop whoop muthafuggas, or whatever. (shrugs)

[Rev. Powell]

BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON (2019): Brittany, overweight and unhealthy inside and out, takes up running with the ambitious goal of completing the New York Marathon. A self-help book in the form of a movie that, like Brittany, does what it announces it will do. 3/5.

SPACE NINJAS (2019): A group of seniors are serving detention when their school is invaded by space ninjas. The cast and crew give their all in this very low-budget, slightly self aware spoof that pits a generation Z Breakfast Club against aliens. On Amazon Prime. I'm giving it a generous 2.5/5, though I'm tempted to go lower.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers" (1988)
After sitting out the last "Halloween" installment, Michael Myers escapes from the asylum and makes his long awaited return to Haddonfield, where he attempts to rub out his young niece. Of course, everyone's favorite gun toting psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence, awesome as ever) isn't about to let that happen.

"H4" has always been a sentimental favorite for me since it was the first "Halloween" I was old enough to see in a theater. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty standard 80s slasher flick, but it captures the October-y mood nicely, with a few decent action sequences and some nice nods to Carpenter's original. Plus, Lord knows it's better than any of the s**t-show sequels that came after it...

[indianasmith]

HELLTOWN (2017) - OK, I got suckered by this two hour Travel Channel "documentary."  It purports to tell the story of why the small Ohio town of Boston was forcibly evacuated by the U.S. government in 1975, with a heavy emphasis on missing persons, a Satanic cult, and a mysterious creature living in the forest.  The narration flashes back and forth between the story of a group of teens that encountered something monstrous in the woods while trespassing in 2016, an encounter that left two of them dead from an "animal attack,"  a folklore expert from a nearby university that has studied the ill-fated community for years, a conspiracy theory YouTuber who backtracks the route taken by the teens, and an interview with a soldier who was the only survivor of an army film squad sent into the town a year after it was evacuated to film "anomalies."

    Because its claims were so off the wall, I knew that some of this story had to be made up.  But a few minutes of research showed me that, like Animal Planet's famous Megaladon documentary, this WHOLE THING was pure fiction from start to finish.  All the cast were hired actors, and not a single event in the story every really happened, except that the town was taken over in 1974 to become part of a national park.

   Long story short, I got completely suckered!  But, for two hours, I was at least entertained. 

[FatFreddysCat]

Slowly kickin' into Schlock-Tober gear with today's double feature:

"Tales of Halloween" (2015)
Cool "Creepshow" style anthology of ten spooky tales, all set in the same small town on Halloween night. Not every segment is a winner but the ones that do are home runs, with plenty of splashy gore, cheap laughs, and some nice nods to classic horror flicks of the past. This one has become an October perennial for me, along with "Trick r' Treat."

"My Name Is Bruce" (2008)
A teenage horror movie fanboy accidentally unleashes a homicidal Chinese demi-god (?) onto his small town. So who's he gonna call? His idol, "Evil Dead" legend Bruce Campbell, of course (who plays himself, and also directs)! When Bruce answers the summons he naturally thinks that this is just another low budget movie gig, but of course he steps up when he realizes that the monster is "real" this time.
Silly slapstick horror fun that gives Bruce a chance to poke fun at himself, his career, and horror movies in general.