October Horror Challenge 2013- Days 17-18

I know I'm a few days behind so I play catch up over a couple of posts so that the post isn't enormous...

Day 17 started with a re-watch of the classic Black Christmas, no not the terrible remake from 2006 where I was forced to sit next to a white trash broad and her wigger boyfriend who made gross make out sounds while in a handicap seat during a sold out showing Christmas Night 2006... we're talking the Bob Clark classic. This movie is fantastic but is in desperate need of a nice release, preferably on Blu-ray because the discs available currently all look like crap.

Next up was Adam Chaplin which just received a full disc review so I'll just link that HERE.

The day ended with the mediocre and disappointing Umberto Lenzi flick Hitcher In The Dark. It wasn't terrible but as a big fan of Lenzi's films I was hoping for something better... or at least trashier. This was the final film I had to watch this month out of the High School Horrors triple pack from Shriek Show that I recently purchased and all 3 movies were pretty disappointing. What a waste.

Day 18 began with Nekromantik 2. this is a better looking and better made sequel to the original however it didn't quite give me the skin-crawling, close my window and shades and hope nobody sees me watching this film that the first did. That isn't to say it isn't revolting and nasty in the best way, because it certainly still is and I'm still a big fan of it.

I'd been wanting to check out the WNUF Halloween Special since I heard about it but finding out that a local Baltimore team made it definitely pushed me over the edge into watching it now. I'm glad I did because while the horror is light, the overall production was awesome. They really nailed every aspect of making this look light it was straight out of the 80s from a local news channel.

A re-watch of Army Of Darkness was next... do I really need to say anything? I leave it at this, the movie is a blast and even though the Evil Dead remake sucked balls I'm excited for the recently announced AOD 2.

I closed the day out with my first and probably only viewing on VHS for the month with Dead Men Walk. This is a totally uninspired, and weak 1940s vampire type horror film that isn't worth talkinga bout and will never be held in the same regard as even 2nd tier horror films from that decade.

Today's Rundown
Black Christmas - 8/10
Adam Chaplin - 3/10
Hitcher In The Dark - 5/10
Nekromantik 2 - 7/10
WNUF Halloween Special - 8/10
Army Of Darkness - 8/10
Dead Men Walk - 4/10

Adam Chaplin: Violent Avenger (DVD Review) - Autonomy Pictures

Italy/2011
Directed By:
Written By:
Starring:
Color/90 Minutes/Not Rated
Region 1

The Film
Adam Chaplin is on a mission of revenge as a cloud of mystery and suspicion surrounds his wife's death. Adam summons a demon who gives him the ability to see his wife again if he's willing to carry out the demon's wishes, which is to kill the people responsible for her death. In order to help Adam with his mission he grants him super human strength and abilities. The town of Heaven Valley is about to have its streets run red with the blood of corruption.

If someone told me that this was originally conceived to be a video game or anime (or some mashup of both) I wouldn't be at all surprised. The film plays out much like a video game, from the storyline itself to film essentially being 90 minutes of super stylized fight scene, cut scene, stylized fight scene, cut scene, and so on. It plays out as a video game would, even leading up to a "boss battle" at the end. ADAM CHAPLIN would probably be more successful if we had the satisfaction of button mashing our way through levels and being responsible for the gallons of blood and guts flying across the screen, instead of just sitting on our ass watching it happen. The film is filled with slow motion action shots, ridiculous amounts of gore and cheap costumes. Is it violent? Hell yes it is. Is it entertaining? Not really, it just sort of happens in front of us with no real sense of danger or urgency. Again, having our lifebar flashing because we're almost dead would make this video game, err... movie better. 

I don't want to harp on the fact that it feels and plays out like a video game but that is my main feeling. The writing is thin, the direction is generic as far as action scenes go and the violence is so far beyond realistic that it doesn't really work. Although, the whole movie is that far beyond realisitic, and super-stylized, I don't think ADAM CHAPLIN: VIOLENT AVENGER is a failure, I just think it was made in the wrong medium. Hell, even that title screams video game! I'm sure there are people who will appreciate this movie for what it is more than I do and it deserves that audience. As for me, I don't dig it.  

The Audio & Video
Autonomy Pictures brings ADAM CHAPLIN to DVD with a solid anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1  transfer. Colors are vibrant and play a big role in the look of the film. It seems some sort of blue filter was used in the photography as almost all of the shots have a blueish hue to them. The red blood that flies so freely in this film pop out against a dull grey setting and the blue hues. The digital photography used is sometimes a bit soft but overall this is disc does a nice job bringing the film's color palette to life. Audio is fine, sometimes a bit muddled but those instances are few and far between and they stem from the production of the film and not with the authoring of this disc. 

The Extras
The disc features several featurettes including "H.A.B.S." on the methods used to create the blood and gore for the film. Also included are "Mechanisms Of Gore", "From Idea To Screen", "Building Up Adam". These featurettes give a nice look at the overview of the production. Also included is Scene Autopsy and a trailer.

The Bottom Line
While ADAM CHAPLIN isn't a film for me, it should have no trouble finding its audience. I'd suggest anime fans check this one out as the editing techniques and photography style definitely takes inspiration from Japanese Animation. They even mention that they were going for that style in the extras.  

ADAM CHAPLIN: VIOLENT AVENGER is available HERE

The Conjuring Blu-ray Contest!

WIN THE CONJURING BD/DVD COMBO PACK! Official way of entering is at the bottom of the page!



The Conjuring 5 Things to know… INTERACTIVE GIFS! 1) The Conjuring is directed by the acclaimed James Wan, the Australian-born director of the fright-fests Insidious and the Saw series. His Twitter handle is @CreepyPuppet. Say no more. 2) The Conjuring has been given an “R” rating by the MPAA. Not because of blood, gore, or violence, but simply because it’s just so scary from start to finish! 3) The Conjuring’s cast and crew experienced creepy events during filming. Scratches appeared out of nowhere on Vera Farmiga’s computer soon after she agreed to act in the movie, the crew were routinely woken by something in the “witching hour” between 3 and 4AM, and the real-life Carolyn Perron fell and broke her hip while visiting the set. 4) The Rhode Island farmhouse where The Conjuring is set once belonged to an accused witch, Bathsheba, who tried to sacrifice her children to the devil and killed herself in 1863. 5) Hold your applause! The Conjuring will make you terrified to clap! Whether it’s playing a traditional game of hide-and-seek by following the clapping sounds like the mother and daughter in the movie, or being terrorized by ghostly claps in different rooms of the haunted farmhouse, these claps throughout the movie will give you the creeps!


Rules
1. I'm running this in conjunction with Warner Bros, they've asked US and Canada residents only and no PO boxes.
2. That's really it.

How To Enter
1. Go to the Celluloid Terror Facebook page where you will see the first image from this post with my wonderful MS Paint art skills over it, share that picture and comment with whether you've seen The Conjuring and what you thought of it
2. The contest will run for 1 week, I'll pick a winner on the night of 10/24.
3. Winner will be noitifed so I can get their shipping address and forward it to WB.

October Horror Challenge 2013 - Days 14-16

The last few days have seemed like a jumbled mess to me, lets see if I can make some sense out of them...

Day 14 only 2 viewings but both were great. First up was The Willies, a more family friendly anthology film. A few kids are camping in the back yard and decide to try and scare and gross out each other with stories. The first few stories are only a couple of minutes each but are a good lead in to the 2 main stories. This is what Goosebumps the series should have been.

The other viewing was Night Train to Terror. I posted the review of the brand new Blu-ray release a couple of days ago so I'll just link that HERE.

The first viewing of day 15 was one I've wanted to see for a long long time, Jorg Buttgereit's Nekromantik. It pretty much did what I wanted it to. It made me feel dirty. It almost gave me the feeling of being younger and watching some horror movies or something on Skinemax and feeling like you're doing something wrong and you better not get caught. I hope part 2 gives me the same grimy feeling.

The rest of day 15 was spent at a friend's house where we drank too much and played Mario Kart for drinks/shots... you know, adult things. We did watch a few movies too though...

Ghost Shark was first, saved on his DVR. This Syfy channel original was actually pretty damn entertaining. It is completely idiotic but that made for an entertaining watch. There isn't much else to say about it but some of the places the shark pops out of is incredible.

Next was Altered, an alien horror flick from the director of The Blair Witch Project. It was okay. I think I'd enjoy it more if I watched it again now that I wouldn't be expecting a creepy alien stalker and more of a violent monster type creature.

Then came the total disaster that was the spoof A Haunted House, starring one of the Wayans, don't ask which because I couldn't tell you. This is proof that humanity is doomed because I'm pretty sure it made a bunch of money at the theaters. We were playing a game of "drink when you can't believe we're watching this"... we never took our lips off the glass.

Luckily day 16 came and there were some great movies, starting with a re-watch of what is among the best 1950s horror film,  The Thing From Another World. If you've never seen it, you should. A great sci-fi and horror mashup that is almost as good as Carpenter's version that came 30 years later.

I caught the short Toy Story Of Terror flick on TV and thought it was a pretty decent adaptation of a roadside motel psycho flick designed for kids. Most of the classic Toy Story characters are there and I think Prickle Pants steals the show with his ominous detailing of horror movie stereotypes. I hope this makes it onto a disc soon.

After grabbing some things for dinner earlier in the day I grabbed Would You Rather out of the Redbox thanks to a free rental code. What a pleasant surprise this one was. Without the presence of Jeffrey Combs I doubt I'd have given this one a shot but his name attached earned it a viewing and I found it to be a really solid effort. And Combs was every bit as good as I'd hoped he would be. He plays a terrific pompous asshole psychopath.

The night closed with Candyman. I haven't watched it in years but I've had the urge for months. It definitely held up to past viewings. Tony Todd is creepy as hell as the title villain and Virginia Madsen is excellent in the lead role. Philip Glass' score is beautiful and the Cabrini Green projects made for a terrifying setting... both for the movie and real life.

Today's Rundown
The Willies - 7/10
Night Train To Terror - 7.5/10
Nekromantik - 8/10
Ghost Shark - 5/10
Altered - 4.5/10
A Haunted House - 1/10
The Thing From Another World - 8/10
Toy Story Of Terror - 7/10
Would You Rather - 7/10
Candyman - 8/10

Night Train To Terror (Blu-ray Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1985
Directed By: Various
Written By: Philip Yordan
Starring: Barbara Wyler, Jamie Scoggin, Stacey Lyons
Color/93 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE

The Film
As a group of teens party aboard a train that is on path to its destruction unbeknownst to them, a few cars down God and Satan discuss the fate of 3 souls that need to either be saved or damned. This is the wrap around story for NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR, with each soul being discuessed making up the trio of stories in this anthology horror film. The first chapter is entitled HARRY, in which a mental asylum uses a man to drug people and bring them back for tests, torture and organ harvesting. There is plenty of gore and nudity in this chapter. The second chapter, GRETTA, features a couple who are lured into the company of a cult-like group called The Death Club who love the thrill of near death experiences. With each meeting of the club a member introduces a new game of fate that could result in a participant's death. These games of Russian Roulette range from the sting of a deadly bug, to electric chairs and even a swinging wrecking ball. Finally the fate of CLAIRE is brought to our attention. She is a woman of faith and her husband is a writer who has just released a book denouncing the existence of God. The couple ends up facing off with a man named Oliver. Oliver just so happens to be the son of Satan. 

NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR is a bit of an oddity. While absolutely working as a campy 80s horror film that is very entertaining, it was meant to be more. The footage for each of the 3 stories were from films that were never completed, which helps explain why sometimes the stories are disjointed and it feels as if we're missing something. It's because we are! All that said, we still get a purely 80s (look no further than the neon-clad music video type scenes and break dance intermission to see just how 80s I'm talking) horror film filled with  gore, nudity and some really cool (if campy) effects and visuals. This film is a fun ride (to terror.)

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome presents NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack for the first time in HD. The 1080p, 16:9 anamorphic widescreen transfer is largely a revelation for the film. Skin tones are nice and natural, colors are striking and detail levels are strong. There is a bit of edge enhancement and ghosting in a handful of moments but for the large majority of this movie the picture looks great and compared to previous transfers I've seen is a revelation. The audio is also a great job by VS. The mixing job is spot on and dialogue comes through loud and clear. There are some moments of background noise like crackling and hissing but they aren't an on-going problem. I don't think anyone could ask for more out of this disc.

Please note that screen shots have been taken from DVD copy of the film.

The Extras
A pair of commentary tracks, interviews, a trailer and a bonus film for the GRETTA segment? Like I said, I don't think anyone could ask for more out of this disc.

 
The Bottom Line
I was pretty damn excited when I heard Vinegar Syndrome would be releasing NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR on Blu-ray and my excitement has been matched by a great product. The oddball nature of how this film came together is something horror fans should experience and there's no better way than with this release.

NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR is available HERE

October Horror Challenge 2013 - Days 11-13

The weekend got away from me pretty badly as far as keeping the blog updated with each day's viewing, my apologies.

Day 11 started off with a viewing of one of my absolute favorite ridiculous movies, Troll 2. This was watched right before bed after the clock rolled over from day 10. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I watch this movie and quote it as it moves along it remains an absolutely hilarious and endlessly entertaining piece of gold. It is the definition of so-bad-it's-good.

Later that day was a pair of films from a double feature DVD I recently purchased. The first was Night Of The Sorcerer's a jungle vampire flick from director Amando De Ossorio of the Blind Dead fame. I'm a big of Ossorio and while this isn't his best film it was very entertaining and featured a good bit of skin and gore.

The second half of the double feature rounded out the day's viewing... the Paul Naschy exorcist rip-off simply title Exorcism. I've heard a lot of praise over the years for this one but it is pretty damn slow in spots, where not too much happens until the last 10 minutes. It isn't really bad up to that point but it definitely pulls the movie down as they could have given us a bit more exorcism fun earlier in the film.

A friend of mine had picked up the Chucky boxset and we watched the new one, The Curse Of Chucky. The movie is better than I expected it to be but Chucky looked weird throughout the film which was a bit annoying. There were some classic Chucky one-liners and it was a harmless film even if there are a couple of odd timeline issues and overlooking things from the original. At least it was way better than Seed.

The next 4 movies were all on the recently released DVD from Shout/Scream Factory... first was The Outing. The basis of this movie is an ancient genie lamp was discovered during a home robbery and eventually ends up in a museum where it wreaks havoc on the guests. This is total 80s cheese taht had potential to be absolutely classic but didn't quite go far enough over the top. That said it was a nice change of pace to watch a movie involving a Djinn/genie that didn't suck ass like the Wishmaster sequels.

The Godsend was next, a British thriller about an evil child who was abandoned at a family's home and raised by the family as their own. The child begins to kill off her several siblings to get her parents to herself. It was a bit dissapointing in how tame and overall bland it was. The evil child subgenre has been done much better than this.

The day concluded with What's The Matter With Helen, a psychological horror film about a woman going mad from paranoia and stress set in the 30s. It was okay but a bit slow and featured more references and songs from Annie than I'd like to see again.

That DVD set was rounded out with The Vagrant, starring Bill Paxton. This was a goofy one as Paxton deals with a homeless man that is seemingly terrorizing him and driving him insane. It never hides its hammyness but it does a nice job of playing up the psychological horror as well.

While at my friend Jordan's house we checked out the Blu-ray of Jason X. His favorite of the series and one I love as well. I'm sure you've all seen it and either love it for how ridiculous it is or hate it for how ridiculous it is.

After getting home that night and passing out I woke up to check out Living Doll, a dvd from Mondo Macabro in which a medical student falls in love with the girl working at the gift shop and finds her body in the morgue. He brings her corpse home and dresses her up as if she were alive. He goes on a bit of a killing spree after he hears her tell him to avenge her death. This was really enjoyable and I think it deserves more attention.

Finally I re-watched Lucio Fulci's Manhattan Baby. I haven't seen it in a good 7 or 8 years but I remember thinking it wasn't quite as bad as most people think it is... well it'll probably be another 7 or 8 years before I give it another chance. What a bore.

Today's Rundown
Troll 2 - 10/10
Night Of The Sorcerers - 6.5/10
Exorcism - 6/10
Curse Of Chucky 6/10
The Outing 6.5/10
The Godsend 5/10
What's The Matter With Helen 5.5/10
The Vagrant 6/10
Jason X 8/10
Living Doll 7/10
Manhattan Baby 3.5/10

October Horror Challenge 2013 - Day 10

I was thrilled to see that the Stuart Gordon movie Dolls was streaming in HD on some On Demand channel for free. I'd never seen this particular one but Gordon is among my favorite horror directors so I knew I had to watch it. It was classic Empire Pictures fun. Killer dolls protecting a child, a teddy bear come to life to maul some folks and creepy but lovable old folks welcoming everyone into their home. Yup, it was pretty much what I hoped for.

Then came Wolfen, a werewolf movie I''ve never seen before today. It is a crime driven horror story centered around a detective investigating a series of murders that seem to be animal attacks. It takes a deep look into the cities Native American community to find out what is really happening. What is really happening is a decent shell of a movie that is underdeveloped in its mythology which holds it back from being great.

The third viewing of the day was The Body Snatchers, a 1993 adaptation of the story that spawned 2 previous films including the timeless 1978 version. This one was directed by notable exploitation director Abel Ferrara. I'd say this is the weakest of the 3 adaptations but this one is surprisingly decent. It suffers from some dated effects and hammy acting but it really suffers most of all from just being unnecessary after the 1978 version. Ferrara's version is however worth a viewing for anyone curious about it.

The killer snake, crime/horror flick Venom was next. I'd never seen this one but a Black Mamba on the loose as Klaus Kinski holds a family ransom has sounded like a good time to me for a long time. And it was pretty decent, it had solid tension throughout but everything from the tension to the horror could have been upped had they snake been made more of a threat. There are only a couple of moments where the snake is in attack mode and only a couple more where we even see it. That is what holds this movie back from being great.

The day ended with a 2nd viewing of The Unseen. It may as well have been a first time viewing as it's been a long, long time since I saw this and didn't remember much about it. I do remember thinking it was better than this though. The movie is rather unremarkable until the last 15 minutes or so which make it a decent horror flick but this was a disappointment. I do have to say that Scorpion Releasing did an excellent job on their Blu-ray release.

Today's Rundown
Dolls - 7/10
Wolfen - 6/10
The Body Snatchers - 6/10
Venom 6.5/10
The Unseen - 6/10