THE CURSE OF DOCTOR WOLFENSTEIN (Reel Gore Releasing Blu-ray Review)

Germany/2015
Directed By: Marc Rohnstock
Written By: Marc Rohnstock
Starring: Isabelle Aring, Robin Czerny, Roland Freitag
Color/115 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: October 25, 2016
Blu-ray/DVD

The Film
In pre-World War II Germany Dr. Victor Wolfenstein has become obsessed with discovering the secret to immortality. Upon finding a serum that can stop the affects of aging he has infected himself with Necrosis, a flesh eating disease. The evil doctor must replace his rotting parts with fresh parts and as the local village is under attack by the doctor they bad together and bury the madman alive. Now in present day the doctor has unearthed himself, still rotting and longing for fresh flesh and a group of teens on their way to a giant party get stranded in the village and quickly learn of the curse that Doctor Wolfenstein has put upon the area.

THE CURSE OF DOCTOR WOLFENSTEIN carries on the tradition of not only its writer/director Marc Rohnstock who is no stranger to splatter films, but a longer, deeper tradition of German splatter films dating back to Olaf Ittenbach (The Burning Moon) and Jorg Buttgereit (Nekromantik). American audiences had a chance to learn Rohnstock's name several years ago when his film Necronos (aka Necronos: Tower Of Doom) was released on DVD by Troma. The bloodshed was the real deal. The gore was incredible. And five years later Rohnstock is back with a dirty, grimy film that  will make you want to take a shower. If you're expecting buckets of blood you should bring barrels because the hordes of nameless victims that Doctor Wolfenstein dispatches in gruesome, grotesque and downright gross ways all have the gore flying.

Make no mistake, you're here for the gore. If you've followed this site for any amount of time you'll know I have very mixed emotions on gore for the sake of gore as simply being gory doesn't make a horror film great. There is that special time where it can make it damn entertaining though and that is the case of THE CURSE OF DOCTOR WOLFENSTEIN. That isn't to say the film is perfect as a good twenty or even thirty minutes could be trimmed without losing anything of substance and it would make the film a tighter product.

But, what the fuck, that would also cut out a half dozen kills or more. And remember, these aren't your cut away, clean up with a single paper towel kills. These are victim after victim stripped down to their most vulnerable position, sliced, diced, chopped and popped. In the best way THE CURSE OF THE DOCTOR WOLFENSTEIN is disgusting. I can talk about the acting, which is fine, or I can talk about the writing, which features a standard slasher set up and all of the tropes and the editing or lack thereof has been mentioned but sometimes what can be described as the lowest common denominator can be more than enough for a good time.

THE CURSE OF DOCTOR WOLFENSTEIN does a great job carrying on the German splatter film legacy and you can even spot the king of German splatter Olaf Ittenbach in a cameo as a victim which I count as a seal of approval from him. THE CURSE OF DOCTOR WOLFENSTEIN isn't perfect but it's fucking nasty and sometimes that is just what the doctor ordered.

The Audio & Video
The third release from Reel Gore Releasing is another stunner in terms of A/V presentation. The Blu-ray quality of DOCTOR WOLFENSTEIN is top notch with exceptionally sharp picture and high detail levels. Colors are strong especially the crimson reds from the arterial sprays. Flesh tones are natural with no signs of waxiness from excessive DNR. There are two audio options, both in the film's native German with optional English subtitles. There is a DTS-HD 2.0 and DTS-HD 5.1 mix respectively. The 2.0 mix is crisp, perfectly clear and stable with no level fluctuations. The audio is free of distortions, hiccups or wobbles.

The Extras
-Behind The Scenes Featurette
-"Trapped And Stabbed" - A short film by Marc Rohnstock
-Blooper Reels
-Trailer
-Still Gallery

The Bottom Line
THE CURSE OF DOCTOR WOLFENSTEIN might be THE release for gore hounds in 2016.

THE CURSE OF DOCTOR WOLFENSTEIN is available HERE

MAI-CHAN'S DAILY LIFE (Blu-ray Review) - Redemption Films

Japan/2014
Directed By: Sato Sade
Written By: Sato Sade
Starring: Kashi Ann, Akane Miyako, Maruyama Shogo
Color/63 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: September 20, 2016

The Film
Miyako is a pretty woman looking for a new job when she comes across a listing for a live-in maid position that pays well. She's hired after inquiring for the job and is quickly fitted for her skimpy, sexy outfit and quickly meets Mai-Chan, another maid working for their "master". Soon after Miyako finds that Mai-Chan is being used as a human play thing for all of their masters twisted fantasies because she regenerates fully from any injuries she sustains. When Miyako is given the opportunity to act out some of her own desires she quickly finds out how sick and twisted she really is.

MAI-CHAN'S DAILY LIFE is based on a Japanese manga that I'm totally unfamiliar with but if the film adaptation is faithful to the manga than it's quite the explicit book. This film is for fans of excess who like their sex and gore. While the film takes place in limited locations that look like sets designed for a stage play, there is definitely a "more is more" attitude when it comes to graphic violence and nudity, particularly the gore. Eyeballs, guts, full dismemberment, it's all here on full bloody display. It's the sexual tension drives the film from point A to point B which leads to the violent acts. The tension between Miyako and Mai-Chan is also purposely inflicted on the viewer as the camera constantly gives up-skirt views of the girls' panties and follows them in an almost seductive manner. I almost felt voyeuristic watching this film, which I feel was intended by director Sato Sade. Sade revels in sexualizing everything from scrubbing the floors and dusting to the use of a chainsaw and actual sex itself.

There are moments in MAI-CHAN'S DAILY LIFE that even air on the surreal side. The film has a stylish look despite some sets looking a bit chintzy. The sets are interestingly even if sparsely dressed, the costumes are nicely designed and the effects are very well done. There are some scenes that you can tell were shot with different cameras as the quality shifts but overall I think MAI-CHAN'S DAILY LIFE does quite a good job at bringing a highly sexualized, gore fest manga to life in the form of an exploitation film while keeping it in a world that straddles the line of fantasy and reality.

The Audio & Video
Redemption Films has brought MAI-CHAN to Blu-ray with a very nice HD presentation. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer largely looks very crisp and sharp. There are moments where it's apparent that somewhat lower quality equipment was used in the production of the film and the image quality in those moments drops just a bit but never to the point of looking bad. Colors are vibrant and detail is strong in the lacy maid uniforms to the wood floors and metal furniture. Black levels are deep and inky and really round out a quality transfer. The audio is in the film's native Japanese with optional English subtitles. The HD audio is clear and free of distractions like popping, crackling or buzzing. There's no background noise either and the subtitles are translated well and timed perfectly with a white colored font.

The Extras
-"Waita's Daily Life" - A behind the scenes documentary clocking in at over half an hour
-Trailer

The Bottom Line
This is 63 minutes of insanity that gore hounds need to take note of.

MAI-CHAN'S DAILY LIFE is available HERE

EVILS OF THE NIGHT (Blu-ray Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1984
Directed By: Mardi Rustam
Written By: Mardi Rustam, Phillip D. Connors
Starring: John Carradine, Tina Louise, Julie Newmar
Color/85 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: August 30, 2016
Blu-ray/DVD

The Film
It's summer vacation in a secluded college town and a small beach is being terrorized by a couple of sleazy old mechanics who are snatching up the remaining coeds to give to a group of aliens who need the youthful blood for transfusions to remain alive in this wacky Sci-fi slasher mixup that is purely a product of the 1980s.

Film producer Mardi Rustam (Psychic Killer) makes his directorial debut with EVILS OF THE NIGHT deciding that the film wasn't in need of great technical prowess and decided to handle the duties himself. Rustam was able to put a film together. Was it good? Was it cohesive? Does it make sense? Well, not really. Three strikes and you're out, right? Well again, not really. At least not here. EVILS OF THE NIGHT is pure schlock. It's a mashup of B-movie alien invasion science fiction complete with cheap costumes that we know are extraterrestrial because they are silver and shiny. (What else would aliens wear?) Then there's the slasher, hicksploitation type angle that the sleazy town mechanics played by Aldo Ray and Neville Brand give the movie as they kidnap the teens in exchange for gold coins, which happen to obviously be quarters. (I said it was low budget.)

The selling point to this movie in foreign markets were the names that were lured into this shoot such as John Carradine, who was well into his years of signing on to any role he could get regardless or quality and Julie Newmar whose glory days as Catwoman from the Batman TV series were long gone and now both of these names are aliens in need of blood transfusions. The selling point in America? The T&A. This movie is loaded with gratuitous nudity and sex. Public sex? Ok! Tits everywhere? You betcha'! Asking girls you don't know if panties you found in the woods belong to them? Well, yeah! The girls aren't ugly, either. This is an attractive 1980s cast that probably hoped to get a big break after baring it all in EVILS OF THE NIGHT. Ha, yeah, that didn't happen. (Looking at you G.T. Taylor!)

But they did get to be in an absolute classic piece of schlock. How this movie isn't talked about among the best cult classics of the 80s is beyond me. Not only is it wacky, cheap and filled with past their prime stars and gratuitous nudity, it also has a few memorable gory moments with lots of blood and limbs being lopped off. And no review of EVILS OF THE NIGHT would be complete without mentioning that porn star Amber Lynn also co-stars in it. If that doesn't sum up the greatness that this films holds I'm not sure what does.

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome killin' it again! This low budget ($190,000) production looks gorgeous in HD thanks for VinSyn's brand new 2K scan and restoration from the original 35mm negative. The transfer maintains the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and features stellar detail in surfaces and textures and incredibly healthy flesh-like skin tones. The close-ups on the two henchmen reveal gorgeously interesting wrinkles and age. There's a natural film like grain structure to the entire film along with striking colors and deep black levels. The English DTS-HD Master Audio features a mono  mix that sounds pristine. There's damage or distortions to the sound and the mix and mastering job is excellent as the dialogue is never lost among the score or soundtrack. Levels are steady throughout.

The Extras
A nice slate of extras including a hefty one has been put together for the Blu-ray debut of EVILS OF THE NIGHT and they include-
-"Alien Blood Transfusion" - 9 minute video interview with director Mardi Rustam
-Alternate Feature Length TV edit of the film
-Isolated Score by Robert O. Ragland
-Outtakes (nearly 25 minutes)
-TV Spot
-Work In Progress Theatrical Trailer

The Bottom Line
EVILS OF THE NIGHT is the lowest common denominator of 80s filmmaking. It's rude, crude, sleazy, bloody and dumb and the sum of its parts plus the killer technical job by Vinegar Syndrome equal the greatest common denominators of schlocky entertainment.

EVIL OF THE NIGHT is available HERE

VIOLENT SHIT (Blu-ray Review) - Reel Gore Releasing

Italy, Germany/2015
Directed By: Luigi Pastore
Written By: Emanuele Barberi, Luigi Pastore, Lucio Massa
Starring: Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Steve Aquilina, Vincenzo Pezzopane
Color/82 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: August 9, 2016
Blu-ray/DVD/CD
Limited To 3,000

The Film
Rome is struck with a series of vicious bloody murders leaving a trail of blood for Italian inspector Aristide D'Amato and his German partner Hans Ebert to follow in hopes of putting together the pieces of the bodies and the crimes. The inspectors fear that the killings mark the return of the infamous German serial killer Karl The Butcher.

VIOLENT SHIT THE MOVIE is a remake of the original shot on video Violent Shit trilogy from the late 80s and early 90s that was directed by Andreas Schnaas and produced by Steve Aquilina who returns to produce and co-star in this remake. This modern take on the series borrows plot elements from various parts of the original movies while adding in original material and move the violence to Rome as director Luigi Pastore (Symphony In Blood Red) pays homage to the sleazy and violent Italian horror films of the 70s and 80s. Pastore creates a film that truly has that same feeling of Italian horror of the 80s. It's an intangible quality that goes beyond a score by Claudio Simonetti's Goblin or cast members such as Giovanni Lombardo Radice and Barbara Magnolfi. Pastore also gives the film an interesting look, drawing obvious influence from directors such as Dario Argento with heavily colored lighting design and a very spastic camera style when the more intense parts of the film kick in.

Karl The Butcher is a killer designed to draw an immediate reaction of fear from the viewer with a massive presence and a chilling medieval mask. He's the perfect pawn of the bigger evil plan that the story delivers giving us massive amounts of bloodshed and gore. The effects work by David Bracci (Mother Of Tears) are stellar and rarely look like obvious prosthetics. The film suffers in that after an interesting opening the middle chunk of VIOLENT SHIT is really slow before the last 20 minutes ramp up the sex and violence to an almost nonstop level. It's definitely worth sitting through the boring parts to get to the good stuff, especially if you're a big time gore hound. The main idea behind VIOLENT SHIT is an interesting one, with a great performance from Giovanni Lombardo Radice who is finally not treated as Italy's Whipping Boy but the pacing is bad and the film would benefit from an even shorter run time.

I still liked VIOLENT SHIT quite a bit. The music, cast members and overall feel of the movie brought back a feeling that I haven't felt from many other recent productions, the feeling of vintage Italian slasher type films. I had mixed feelings on Luigi Pastore's previous film Symphony In Blood Red and again I have mixed feelings about VIOLENT SHIT but there's enough to like that I will be keeping him on my radar for future productions.


The Audio & Video
Reel Gore Releasing's debut release is an impressive looking and sounding release. The digital photography shines with a crystal clear anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1 ratio) transfer. Colors pop giving life to the artistic lighting designs and ample amounts of bloody special effects. Black levels are deep and free from any blocking or compression issues. Skin tones are healthy and natural looking with no waxiness, while detail in textures and surfaces is quite strong. There are several audio options including a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, and Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 mixes - all English dubs. The sound quality is clear, crisp and warm. The score by Claudio Simonetti's Goblin is powerful and shines through at key moments but never overpowers the dialogue. The mix is very well done.

The Extras
-"Making Of" Featurette
-"The History Of VIOLENT SHIT"
-Tribute To Lilli Carati - Her last interview
-Interviews With Cast And Crew Members
-World Of Stars - Segment from Italian TV program featuring more interviews with cast and crew
-Selection of Trailers
-Still Gallery
-24 Page Booklet

The Bottom Line
VIOLENT SHIT isn't for everybody but for gore hounds and splatter film fans there's plenty enough blood and guts to quench their thirst. Receommended.

VIOLENT SHIT is available HERE

April Exploitation/B-Movie Challenge 2016 - Days 11, 12 and 13

Three days to cover so lets just get down to it - A revisit of the original MAD MAX left me feeling underwhelmed and confused. I apparently remember almost nothing of the original film. Granted, it has been a number of years since I made an effort to actually sit down and watch any of the original trilogy but apparently all of my memories have been formed by The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome. MAD MAX isn't a bad movie but I was expecting to revisit something different, something more in line with its sequels and knockoffs that I have no shame in saying I enjoy quite a bit more on the whole.

BUNNI was next - a 2013 production recently released on DVD by Wild Eye Productions. This is a slasher film geared for the gore hounds as there are a number of bloody and messy kill sequences. MINOR SPOILER: Castration and feeding the severed cock to it's victim has officially become a theme this month SPOILER OVER. The film is short, and lightning paced once things get rolling. The abandoned building that the majority of the film takes place in is inherently creepy and the effects are pretty well done. The acting isn't offensively bad but the direction and photography is shall we say, uncomfortable. I don't mean that the direction is scary or unsettling, it's not that type of uncomfortable. I mean that there's something in how it was filmed that makes everyone look the slightest bit jittery at all times. Movement just looks off, almost if it was shot at an awkward frame rate that doesn't quite look natural. I can't say exactly what it is and it's difficult to describe without seeing it in motion but it's a major distraction throughout. BUNNI ends up being a passable indie horror flick.

Next up was the first of three Jess Franco directed women in prison films - 99 WOMEN. This is almost a paint by numbers WIP film and it would have been perfectly enjoyable had it been but Jess Franco throws his "Francoisms" as I like to call them, all over the place. "Francoisms" refers to his awkward, and downright shitty directorial techniques like panning the camera side to side until whatever action is off screen or random zooms that often go so far as to turn the picture into a total blur. Hey, I'm okay with zooms on bush and butts as much as the next guy but I don't need to feel like a fucking parasite crawling up in there.

Then we get WOMEN BEHIND BARS - this is pretty much the slightly more enjoyable version of 99 WOMEN in that we get less of Franco's nonsense and more Lina Romay. There's a better plot, though it's messy, about stolen diamonds and undercover agents in the prison. And there's Lina Romay. There's also some shoot outs and it's fun enough.

I took a break from Franco for the next film and watched OVER THE EDGE, a 1979 teen rebellion movie dripping with a punk rock attitude. My main thoughts about this movie are how in the blue hell did this movie never get brought to my attention? How have I never heard of it? This is the story of a dream like community that ended up being a hell hole to grow up in with nothing to do but be left to your own devices. Partying, drugs and fights were normal. So was shooting out cops windows on the highway. Parents barely cared and the kids would have their say. I love this movie after a single viewing and know I will frequently revisit it. It's well made top to bottom and gets some great and natural performances out of a group of kids in junior high and high school. It also has a wild finale that isn't to be missed.

We close things out with Franco's best, or at least most interesting women in prison film that I've seen to date and without a doubt his sleaziest. SADOMANIA lives up to its name in a film where a pair of newlyweds drive into an off limits area of a women's prison and they take the wife prisoner while letting the husband go. The husband now fights for his wife's freedom and tries to break her out of this strict facility ran. That paper thin plot provides an excuse to show everything from topless women performing hard labor, lesbian sex, bestiality, homosexuality with Franco himself, murder, fights to the death, human hunting, and human trafficking of these women with the mention of selling girls as young as twelve. Yeah, this one goes the distance. It's not perfect but I had a blast seeing just how far SADOMANIA would go.

Today's Rundown
Mad Max - 6/10
Bunni - 4/10
99 Women - 5/10
Women Behind Bars - 6/10
Over The Edge - 8/10
Sadomania - 7/10

April Exploitation/B-movie Challenge 2016 - Day 10

I was given a Youtube link to DIVINE WATERS, a somewhat rare 1981 documentary on John Waters and the Dreamlanders. The film features interviews with John Waters' sister and parents and clips with Edith Massey, Divine, and others along with Waters himself. I hadn't seen any of this footage before so it was all interesting and entertaining despite clocking in at just over an hour. I think there have been better documentaries, and of course more complete now that DIVINE WATERS is 35 years old, on Waters and Divine but this one is definitely worth a look.

It's time! It's time! It's women in prison time! You can't have a month of exploitation and not dig into some WIP films? Well, maybe you can but I can't. So first up was BARE BEHIND BARS from 1982. This movie starts out as a wonderfully sleazy, skin filled, lesbian prison romp with a couple dozen prisoners getting off whenever they get a chance to visit the infirmary and have fun with the nurse and her dildo (the 7th Wonder of the World.) This movie goes fucking bonkers when a trio of girls plan an escape, but not before seeing the 8th Wonder of the World... a rather giant sized dildo made out of a pineapple. Yes, you read that correctly. A pineapple dildo. Yum. That's nothing compared to when the three girls break out, take a family hostage and murder them but not before castrating the father and tossing his weiner to the dog. Oh and the little boy, who can't be older than 10 (and I'm probably pushing it there), well let's strip him down while 3 grown women rub on him sexually before killing him too. The mother got it easy. That's not all, there's more dick chopping, and this time it isn't the dog that it's fed to and some hard XXX action out of nowhere. BARE BEHIND BARS went fucking nuts in the last 20-25 minutes and I loved every seedy, uncomfortable, mind baffling second of it even more than I loved the first hour.

And we close things out with AMAZON JAIL, from Oswaldo de Oliveira, the same director as BARE BEHIND BARS. This film that came two years later is obviously set in the Amazon and features a lot more action outside of the jail setting itself which kept things fresh. There's plenty of skin and sex along with jungle dangers like venomous snakes. The girls are stuck between white slavers and crazy native priests all looking to keep these girls for themselves but the girls fight back in a three way war of sex and survival. Entertaining, and filled with filth AMAZON JAIL was a lot of fun to watch but never reached the level of BARE BEHIND BARS.

Today's Rundown
Divine Waters - 6/10
Bare Behind Bars - 8/10
Amazon Jail - 7/10

April Exploitation/b-movie Challenge 2016 - Days 8 and 9

The last 2 days each featured a pair of movies. Day 8 started off with THE SINFUL NUNS OF ST. VALENTINE. I think a bit of Nunsploitation was overdue for this challenge but unfortunately I didn't pick a great one. The film revolves around an unsolved murder and one of the girls at the convent is accused of it. It starts out entertaining enough with a good bit of lesbian and naked nun action but before too long the plot starts to run thin which causes the film to drag. There's bit and pieces sprinkled throughout that I like but in the end it tries too hard to replicate the madness and beauty that Ken Russell's The Devils perfectly captured a few years earlier.

That was followed up by one of my favorite viewings of the month - WILD BEASTS. Franco Prosperi, director of Mondo Cane takes his penchant for staging shocking violence in the world of Mondo films and uses them to create an awesome killer animal flick as a European city is under siege from the animals who have escaped their zoo cages after drinking PCP contaminated water making them highly aggressive. Nobody is safe from the tigers, lions, rats, elephants, cheetahs and bulls. The deaths are bloody and gruesome and the movie is immediately one of my favorite killer animal films of all time.

Day 9 started with a big disappointment. The old west slasher A KNIFE FOR THE LADIES sounded like it had to be entertaining. A Jack The Ripper style slasher set in the old west... It had to be ripe with gory murders, shootouts, and the sweaty, dirty desert, right? Ha. Haha. No. No it wasn't. The murders are all off screen, letting us only see the aftermath, the acting aside from the top two or three characters are laughably bad and it's unfortunately predictable.

BIGFOOT VS ZOMBIES finished day 9. This is a new indie movie released by Wild Eye Releasing. This movie is incredibly low budget, with a cheap Bigfoot suit (somehow not the worst I've ever seen) and really poor zombie makeup. It's actually the simpler zombie makeup effects that look better than the cheap attempts at masks that hang off the actor's face. As you can imagine this movie is intentionally campy and has its tongue planted firmly in its cheek. Movies such as this can go one of two ways: They can be charming or they can be down right awful. I found BVZ to be charming with a good sense of humor that had some genuinely funny jokes and scenes. The acting was better than expected for the most part and it was fun to see Bigfoot, who seemed to barely crack 6 feet tall, get into it with some undead ghouls. Bring the beers for BIGFOOT VS ZOMBIES and enjoy the silliness.

Today's Rundown 
The Sinful Nuns Of St. Valentine - 5/10
Wild Beasts - 9/10
A Knife For The Ladies - 3/10
Bigfoot vs. Zombies - 5/10

April Exploitation/B-movie Challenge 2016 - Days 3 and 4

It was tough to find time these last couple of days. The 7 hour shitfest that WWE called Wrestlemania 32 took up most of day 3 and day 4 became unexpectedly busy as well. I managed to squeeze in a film each day starting with Cirio Santiago's action packed ride through the post-apocalyptic desert wasteland, WHEELS OF FIRE. This Roger Corman production is packed with car chases, shootouts, fist fights, beautiful women, leather, nudity, rape, flamethrowers, subterranean sand people, space cults and more. It's cheesy in all the right ways and I love it.

Then came a re-watch of THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH, a film I've watched a couple times in the last week to refresh my memory of it for a visit on the Astro Radio Z podcast which focused on gialli this week. If you were to look up "giallo films" in a dictionary THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH could very well be pictured. It's a textbook example of the genre complete with stylish direction, exotic setpieces, a black gloved killer, red herrings, and a twist ending. It stars Edwige Fenech who is one of the most gorgeous women to ever grace the silver screen along with leading man George Hilton and the brilliant character actor Ivan Rassimov. This is a perfect movie.

Today's Rundown
Wheels Of Fire - 8/10
The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh - 10/10

April Exploitation/B-Movie Challenge 2016 Days 1 & 2

To kick off an exploitation movie challenge I don't know if there's too many better places to start than with a Bill Zebub movie. He's made his name making movies filled with schlock, nudity and some off beat humor all on a micro budget. HOLOCAUST CANNIBAL was no different as we watch a group of Nazis struggle to survive the jungles of Argentina, which looks more like the woods behind your house than any exotic South American location. The Nazis have to deal with cannibal natives, sexy women, giant spiders and snakes. They continually get their ass kicked in slow motion. I rather enjoyed the film but found the constant slow motion editing and use of German metal for the soundtrack to become tedious. Nevertheless I'm a fan of the film and it was an appropriate way to kick things off.

ALLEY CAT is a film that I've wanted to see for quite a while as it is a rape/revenge film in the vein of Ms. 45 and Savage Streets - I knew ALLEY CAT would be right up my... ahem... alley. What I didn't get was a film nearly as mean or depraved as either of the films it is compared to. What I did get was a cheesy, karate filled revenge film with a prison shower scene that takes place in the smallest shower I've ever seen. Oh, and it's still got a good bit of that exploitative goodness to keep it just mean enough. It's not the cult classic that Savage Streets is and it isn't the masterpiece that I find Ms. 45 to be but it's damn entertaining and a really solid watch.

The final film of day one came from Frederick Friedel - BLOODY BROTHERS. This film takes Friedel's two feature films Axe and Kidnapped Coed and edits them together into a film of it's own in an attempt to make soe money from his movies after being swindled by producer Harry Novak on those films. Taking two separate films and managing to make an even somewhat cohesive third film by smashing them together is a commendable feat and Friedel manages just that. It's an interesting watch because it includes footage not seen in the final cuts of the film, notably in Axe where the market scene is longer. BLOODY BROTHERS isn't as good as either Axe or Kidnapped Coed but I respect what Friedel was able to pull off by making a presentable film.

Two movies for the second day and we start with PIGS. I'll be reviewing the brand new Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray of this title so I won't be going too in depth with it here but I really really liked PIGS and loved that it wasn't at all what I expected.

I finished things out with Larry Cohen's feature film directorial debut, BONE. This was a tense, mean, funny and uncomfortable commentary on race and class featuring an incredible performance by Yaphet Kotto who gives the most chilling lesson on smashing roaches that you'll ever see. The writing in this film is interesting and goes unexpected ways and really draws the viewer in and the cast as a whole pull off some nuanced performances that carry the script to a massively successful place. The film is flawed but it proves that exploitation films can be both poignant and smart.

Today's Rundown
Holocaust Cannibal - 6/10
Alley Cat - 7/10
Bloody Brothers - 5/10
Pigs - 8/10
Bone - 7/10

LUTHER THE GEEK (Blu-ray Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1988
Directed By: Carlton J. Albright
Written By: Carlton J. Albright
Starring: Edward Terry, Joan Roth, Stacy Haiduk
Color/80 Minutes/Not Rated
Region Free
Release Date: January 19, 2016
Blu-ray, DVD

The Film
As a young boy Luther sees a carnival sideshow act of a "geek", a down on his luck beggar that attracts crowds by biting the heads off of live chickens in exchange for booze. Luther curiously tastes the chicken blood that has splattered across the stage and instantly develops a taste for it. Years have gone by and Luther is up for parole after a long history of violent crimes and he's developed a taste for human blood. Immediately upon his release he attacks a person with his set of metal teeth he has fashioned for himself and hides out at a secluded farm house terrorizing the three inhabitants and playing a game of cat and mouse with the local sheriff.

LUTHER THE GEEK was originally picked up for distribution by Quest Entertainment but never got the release it deserved and largely languished in VHS obscurity until Troma released it on DVD in 2005. I had never heard much chatter about the film so when the opportunity came up to review this Blu-ray I was intrigued to finally see it. Simply put, I wasn't totally ready for what I was in for.

This film had all the potential in the world to be a hicksploitation horror gem. I think they even had the freedom to take a campy approach to it or stick with the more serious tone that the film tries to achieve. It could have worked both ways but as it is LUTHER just moves too slow. Once we arrive at the farmhouse the movie slows pretty badly with a couple chase scenes with Luther and the mom and then the daughter and her boyfriend. There are a couple well done special effects moments as a result of Luther's metal chompers leaving plenty of mangled flesh and blood but I feel the the farm house arrives too quickly. Instead if we had another couple of moments of Luther on the run and having violent run ins with some locals before reaching the final location it would have spiced things up enough that the deliberately paced scenes at the farmhouse would have felt more tense and not as drawn out.

There is one thing that sets LUTHER THE GEEK apart from similar films and it is Luther himself. No, it isn't just his metal teeth that look like dollar store costume hillbilly teeth that make your lips bulge out but it is Luther's clucking. Yes, clucking. Luther doesn't talk, he just clucks like a chicken for whatever reason. The movie has a decidedly serious tone, an ominous score and a pace that tells the audience that things are scary and dreadful, not to be taken lightly or with a dose of laughter. Then Luther starts clucking away and it's weirdly hilarious. As any grown man clucking like a chicken would be.

I don't think the clucking takes away from the film, if anything it probably adds to the absurdity of the character as I'm sure the filmmakers hoped it would. I couldn't speak of the clucking... no, I couldn't speak of this film at all without discussing the bizarre ending that I sat staring at the screen in silence of for a moment trying to comprehend just exactly what the fuck it was that I saw. If you don't want the end to spoiled at all I'm officially making the rest of this section a spoiler alert so feel free to skip ahead...

SPOILER ALERT
The ending takes an amazing twisted and oddly uncomfortable turn when Luther and the sheriff have a shootout in the barn that houses the chickens and he kills the sheriff. The mother who had come to help the officer lies in shock in the barn until morning when Luther goes to make his escape and sees the woman sitting there in shock. He moves in for a bite until she comes to and starts clucking at Luther who is briefly taken aback. He clucks back and the pair begins communicating in clucking which leads to Luther proudly strutting around the barn like a rooster, crowing loudly until the woman pulls out her rifle and shoots Luther in the chest. That would make for an interesting enough ending if the credits rolled but they don't roll until the woman has a cry session... a clucking cry session. Yes, the woman cry clucks after killing the murderer. What. The. Fuck.
END SPOILER

LUTHER THE GEEK was right there. It had the chance to be something great. And while it certainly is a memorable film that won't be erased from my mind anytime soon I think the film itself comes up a bit short on. It's passable but it just squeaks by.

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome's latest license from Troma is another outstanding job. The new 16x9 anamorphic widescreen transfer has a new 2K scan from the original 35mm negative and has a warm and filmic look to it with a healthy grain structure. The image has been cleaned up a bit but there's a bit of speckling still remaining throughout. This keeps in line with the natural film look of the transfer. Colors are naturally a bit on the softer side but the blood reds are a beautiful shade of crimson. Detail level is very good particularly in closeups of surfaces and textures. The DTS-HD Master Mono Audio track is crisp and clear with no traces of background noise or damage such as popping or crackling. The levels are stable and mixed well between the dialogue and score.

The Extras
-Audio Commentary With Director Carlton J. Albright
-Video Interview With Actor Jerome Clarke
-Video Interview With The Director
-Video Introduction With The Director
-Original Theatrical Trailer
-Reversible Cover Art
-All Previous Troma DVD Features Including: Interviews with Carlton Albright and Will Albright and Carlton Albright's thoughts on several key scenes

The Bottom Line
This release is an easy recommendation given the fantastic A/V presentation and the bounty of special features.

LUTHER THE GEEK is available HERE

CORRUPTION (Blu-ray Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1983
Directed By: Roger Watkins
Written By: Roger Watkins
Starring: Jamie Gillis, Tiffany Clark, Bobby Astyr
Color/79 Minutes/Not RAted
Region FREE
Release Date: December 15, 2015

The Film
Williams is a man obsessed with success and power but owes a debt to a person he may not be able to repay. His girlfriend's sister is thrown in a carnal, perverted world, and everyone else around him seems to not be able to help him as they give in to their erotic desires or have their own personal greed in mind.

Adult film legend Jamie Gillis stars in this color coded, fetishized kink-fest that will leave the viewer mesmerized, uncomfortable and astounded all at the same time. There's rough spots of rape and treachery, S&M, hardcore sex and Bobby Astyr playing a New York tough guy like Bobby Astyr does.

Roger Watkins builds this dream like world, filled with nightmarish sexual scenarios that all becomes a bit of a morality tale based around  greed and lust for power and sex. Watkins direction is fantastic and he gets a pair of great performances out of Gillis and Astyr as half brothers and as a piece of smut he gets some hot and steamy action with Vanessa Del Rio being a gorgeous mistress along with plenty of other various scenarios that will at times leave the audience squirming.

Filled with beautiful visuals, CORRUPTION belongs alongside arthouse midnight movies as much as it does in the rear viewing booths of a porn shop. It borders on being a minor masterpiece of smut and exploitation and will definitely leave an impression on you.

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome's 2K restoration on CORRUPTION is stunning. The film has a light grain structure giving it a healthy film look. Colors are bright and vivid and have a bit of pop to them. Black levels are deep and inky with no artifacting or compression issues. Details level is high and skin tones are fleshy and natural with no signs of waxiness from excessive DNR. The HD audio is crisp and crystal clear. There's no audible annoyances or background noise. Dialgoue and music are mixed very well so they're complimentary to each other and are never lost among the mix.

The Extras
-"Through The Lens" - Interview with cinematographer Larry Revene
-Original Theatrical Trailer
-Artwork Gallery
-LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET Easter Egg - An unrestored but fully HD uncut presentation of Roger Watkins' infamous LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET exploitation horror film! Until Vinegar Syndrome releases their fully restored and cleaned up Blu-ray of LHODES this is worth the price of admission alone!

The Bottom Line
I was more excited to get this release for the Easter egg of LAST HOUSE ON DEAD STREET than I was for the actual titular feature but CORRUPTION, while a totally different film in nature, stands on its own and is fantastic. Purchase this Blu-ray for either film but you'll quickly find out that you have two special films on your hands and one is in exceptional condition while the other is a suitable placeholder for the inevitable better release. Essential viewing!

CORRUPTION is available HERE

MARQUIS DE SADE'S JUSTINE (Blu-ray Review) - Blue Underground

Italy, France/1969
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Harry Alan Towers
Starring: Romina Powers, Maria Rohm, Klaus Kinski
Color/124 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date:
Limited Edition 3 Disc BD/DVD/CD Combo Pack

The Film
Justine and her older sister Juliette are left orphaned after their father is forced to leave the country and their mother dies and are removed from their convent where they're training to be nuns. The sisters quickly take different roads in life as Juliette shacks up at a brothel and takes to a life of crime while Justine clutches on to her innocence and virginity while she's put through trial of physical and sexual abuse and torture, framed for murder, forced into a gang of fugitives just to name a few as told by the Marquis De Sade himself.

JUSTINE is Jess Franco's biggest production and it certainly feels and looks like it with lavish costuming, big sets dripping with gorgeous dressing and a substantial amount of locations and cast members. The film looks beautiful and despite a few "Franco being Franco" moments (including a needless quick zoom to a totally out of focus eyeball) this is a stylish and skillfully made production. Unfortunately the star Romina Powers is either totally disconnected from the material or blissfully (for her own sake) unaware that she's making a movie. She has a perfect look for the character of Justine as she has a naturally innocent look but she's as wooden as wooden can get and doesn't emote any of the tasteless brutality that she endures again and again.

The script can be blamed for that however as much of the straight forward mean spirited nature the original story has toward Justine is lightened and there is a moment of reprieve for Justine in the film where she meets a man who has a genuine love for her and wants to protect her. It leaves the film being a bit uneven and awkward at times. Jack Palance and Mercedes McCambridge play supporting roles who both kill it with their respective performances. As the story goes Palance was drunk on red wine by 7am each morning and that very well may have lead to his totally bizarre and off the fucking wall performance while McCambridge owns the screen during her scenes as a powerful leader of a band of thieves and swindlers. If Romina Powers had half the charisma or talent as McCambridge she could have won an Oscar for this film. The film still succeeds in adapting the De Sade story, with a performance from Klaus Kinski himself as the author locked up in a prison having hallucinatory visions of naked chained women bleeding from their necks and covered in sweat.

JUSTINE is worthy of praise as the good certainly outweighs the bad and will live on as one of Jess Franco's most attractive and lavish productions. It makes me think about how incredibly some of his horror films could have looked and how big their scope could have been had he had the budget he had on JUSTINE.


The Audio & Video
Blue Underground takes what is arguably Jess Franco's most visually stimulating and lush production and give it the Blu-ray release it deserves with a stunning anamorphic widescreen transfer keeping the film's original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Colors are vibrant and vivid while there is excellent detail level in textures and surfaces. You can almost feel the scratchiness of the wool garb! Skin tones are fleshy and natural with no signs of waxiness or excessive digital scrubbing. The film's natural grain structure is kept gracefully in tact and there's really nothing that could have been done better on this disc from a visual standpoint. And the English DST-HD mono audio is largely the same with a crisp and clear track that is free of any background noise or distortions. The dialogue and beautiful score from Bruno Nicolai are beautifully complimentary and have a great mix.

Please Note: Screen shots are taken from the DVD copy of the film and do NOT represent the quality of the Blu-ray transfer.

The Extras
-"The Perils And Pleasures Of Justine" - Interviews with Co-writer/Director Jess Franco and Producer Harry Alan Towers (20 minutes)
-Stephen Thrower On JUSTINE - Interview with Stephen Thrower author of "Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco" (18 minutes)
-French Trailer
-Poster and Still Gallery
-Booklet by Stephen Thrower
-CD Soundtrack
-DVD Copy of the Film

The Bottom Line
This period piece adapted from the story of the same name is sometimes sleazy, sometimes excellent and sometimes a misfire. Those misfires are quickly followed up by more sleaze and excellence most of the time which lands JUSTINE as a perhaps under appreciated piece of Franco's filmography and one that will hopefully gain some attention from this gorgeous Blu-ray release.

MARQUIS DE SADE'S JUSTINE is available HERE

SGT. KABUKIMAN N.Y.P.D. (Blu-ray Review) - Troma

USA/1990
Directed By: Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz
Written By: Charles Kaufman, Andrew Osborne, Jeffrey W. Sass
Starring: Rick Gianasi, Susan Byun, Bill Weeden
Color/105 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: November 10, 2015

The Film
Harry Griswold is a sergeant with the NYPD, he's a hot dog loving Bronx boy who is about to learn his destiny - harnessing thousands year old powers that will transform him into a superhuman Kabukiman sent to protect New York and the world from ultimate evil with his arsenal of weapons and powers including deadly chopsticks, sushi and Geisha fans.

First a bit of background - While filming The Toxic Avenger 2 in Japan Troma presidents Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz were approached by Japanese financiers connected to Namco to create a Japanese superhero since the first Toxic Avenger film was a big hit in Japan. Namco became a producer and SGT. KABUKIMAN NYPD was greenlit with a 1.5 million dollar budget, the biggest budget Troma had ever worked with.

Ideas differed for the film as Michael Herz and the Namco boys wanted a more family friendly, mainstream oriented film while Lloyd Kaufman wanted to go the traditional Troma route filled with offensive material, dark comedy and sex and violence. Kaufman won the battle (mostly) and SGT. KABUKIMAN NYPD would end up being R-rated and the Namco boys pulled their distribution leaving the future of the film up in the air until it was finally released theatrically in 1996 despite being screened at Cannes upon its initial completion.

I find SGT. KABUKIMAN to be one of Troma's most iconic characters that could stand toe to toe with Toxie had it been granted sequels in the way The Toxic Avenger was. Now, there's really no denying Toxie is the Troma icon, but Kabukiman is no slouch and neither is the film. Sure the film starts out with a confusing set of astrological circumstances to turn our everyday cop into the striped-bathrobe wearing superhero but that's part of the charm. Planets are in houses, Jupiter has a hole that tigers are jumping through and some other bullshit immediately tell the viewer they're in for classic Troma fare. The movie is gory complete with its own head crushing scene, and its sleazy with a daytime public rape attempt. It's silly and stupid with some cultural stereotypes and cliches on full display. We even have Brick Bronsky! BRICK BRONSKY! I dare not say his name a third time.

The movie is a bit uneven at times because there still seems to be a bit of hokey family friendly attempts thrown in which on a first time viewing may pull the viewer out of the film briefly but I think it adds to the charm once you get to know the film. And you can't dislike the original use of the trademark Troma car crash, can you? No, I think not.

SGT. KABUKIMAN NYPD was the first step in Troma attempting to break into the mainstream, something they'd have an unexpected bit of success with a few short years later with The Toxic Crusaders cartoon and brand. While Troma found the crack that allowed a Troma product to squeeze through on to TV sets, video game systems (despite the games being damn near unplayable) and toy chests in homes across America perhaps the timing just wasn't right in 1990 for SGT. KABUKIMAN NYPD to be the movie that made "Troma" be a weird word that parents in their 50s and 60s now somehow remember, but they aren't sure where from. Who knows what the world would be like if Micahel Herz and the Namco financiers had won the battle over the film and made Kabukiman an international superhero and icon.

The Audio &a Video
Troma gives SGT. KABUKIMAN NYPD a beautiful full 1080p HD presentation. The 16x9 anamorphic widescreen transfer has a healthy and natural grain structure giving the movie an actual film look. Colors are sharp and vibrant while black levels are deep and come across with no signs of compression issues or blocking. Skin tones aren't at all waxy and detail level is strong in textures and surfaces. The English audio mix is well done as the dialogue comes across loud and clear and the soundtrack is complimentary without ever drowning it out. I didn't notice any damage to the audio but there is a constant whirring in the background similar to that of a running projector that is a bit distracting and annoying at first until you tune it out.

The Extras
-Audio Commentary
-Interview With Star Rick Gianasi
-New Introduction By Lloyd Kaufman
-Full Episode Of KABUKIMAN'S COCKTAIL CORNER (Troma's new web series)
-Kabukiman Cocktail Karaoke
-Original Trailer
-Highlights From Tromadance 2015
-Stupid Moments In Troma History

The Bottom Line
Kabukiman is one of Troma's most iconic characters and it's great to see him shine in HD with an awesome release like he deserves to.

SGT. KABUKIMAN NYPD is available HERE

CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH 3 (Blu-ray Review) - Troma

USA/1994
Directed By: Eric Louzil
Written By: Lloyd Kaufman, Carl Morano, Matt Unger
Starring: Brick Bronsky, Lisa Star, John Tallman
Color/102 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: October 13, 2015

The Film
The mayor of Tromaville gives birth to identical twin boys, Adlai and Dick but Dick is kidnapped from the hospital and raised by evil conglomerates hellbent on turning Tromaville into a toxic wasteland by committing a crime and framing Adlai.

CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH 3: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE SUBHUMANOID is more mutant meltdown madness. Filled with plenty of hilariously stupid jokes, more Brick Bronsky than you know what to do with and all of the raunchy stuff that makes us love Troma, this was a great end to the trilogy until the series was revived a few years back.

The plot is very loosely based on Shakespeare's The Comedy Of Errors at least as far as the separated twins and mistaken identity plot device goes. More realistically it gives Bronsky a triple threat of roles to show off his incredible (or not so) acting abilities but he's a lovable cornball in this and is certainly the star of the show.

If you're reading this you're probably familiar enough with the trilogy to know what you're in for - gross out gore, people melting, a giant mutant squirrel, lots of boobs, high energy, offensive humor and Brick fuckin' Bronsky. What else is there to say?

The Audio & Video
Troma has done a nice job bringing the NUKE 'EM HIGH films to Blu-ray so far and this is no exception. The 1080p full HD anamorphic widescreen transfer has strong details in surfaces and textures along with a natural but vivid and vibrant color reproduction. Skin tones are fleshy and not at all waxy. There's a thin layer of digital noise over the picture that takes away from the detail at times but it's nothing major. The HD 2.0 audio mix is clear and well mixed. There's no damage to the soundtrack but there is a bit of background noise throughout the film that sounds like the whirring of a projector. It's never distracting and after a while you tune it out but it is noticeable to begin with. Overall I'm quite pleased with this Blu-ray presentation of THE CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH 3.

The Extras
-Director's Commentary
-Interview With Troma Star Lisa Gaye
-Trailers of the Nuke Em High saga

The Bottom Line
The NUKE 'EM HIGH movies are some of Troma's best work and this Blu-ray is at the head of Troma's class.

CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH PART 3 is available HERE